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The TikTok challenges were getting to Stephen Paulson. The ones where students steal items like soap dispensers from school bathrooms or smash Chromebooks, all for a viral moment on social media.
Paulson, a social studies teacher at Greeley Central High School in northern Colorado, knew the episodes were not only damaging school property but also staff and community perceptions of students.
As school started in the fall of 2023, he had an idea. Paulson and one of his ninth grade classes spearheaded a monthly school clean-up day. It started with 20 students and soon grew to include students from all four grades and tasks far beyond picking up trash and wiping down desks. Students began helping out at every major school event, volunteering at local elementary schools, and joined service projects in the community.
“The magic of this project was giving students an opportunity to lead and give back to the school,” he said.
Paulson, who was recently named Colorado’s 2026 Teacher of the Year, talked to Chalkbeat about how the clean-up project helped change minds, why his students write personal essays about family migration, and what he did to give 10th graders hands-on career experiences.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Was there a moment when you decided to become a teacher?
When I first enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado, I was planning to pursue a pre-law path. But within a day of college orientation, I switched my major to education. I have always been driven to help others and I felt that a career in education would allow me to support my community.
How did your own experience in school influence your approach to teaching?
I loved elementary school and found it very easy, but as I got to middle school, that all changed. I no longer enjoyed school and had very little success. I was even attempting to fake illnesses to get out of going. Eventually, I realized that I had to play the game of school, even though I did not enjoy it. I did my best to get good enough grades and test scores to attend college, but I could have accomplished much more.
I try to remember my own struggles when I am working with students to help them avoid the mistakes that I made or recover from them when they do fail. I try to be honest to a fault, supportive, and to push students to be their best.
Tell us about a favorite lesson to teach.
If you happened to walk into room 321 during sixth period AP Human Geography in late September, you would see 35 students, all new to AP, working on their first essay. The curriculum says students must demonstrate understanding of different types of migration, causes, and common patterns. Our mission is to show understanding through a narrative essay of our own family migration histories.
To understand why I care so much about this lesson, you must understand who sits in room 321. These 35 students represent our school, community, and the world. Many students in the class (roughly 60%) are English learners. There are over 10 ethnicities represented and five different languages spoken. Seven students are advanced while 11 are behind. Every type of person is represented and welcomed into our space.
The migration essay exemplifies one of my key beliefs: Every person in my classroom belongs, and all of their experiences are valuable and add to every lesson I teach.
What is the Career Mentor project? Why did you start it?
A fundamental part of my teacher identity is being part of Advancement Via Individual Determination or AVID, a nationwide program designed to help first generation students access college and their dream careers. The 10th grade year emphasizes career exploration.
For my first two AVID cohorts, we took a deep dive into career fields. Students took surveys, did research, wrote essays, and made poster boards that they presented to staff and students. But deep down, I felt like this wasn’t enough. Then two former AVID students gave me an idea: Get your students into the community to see these careers up close.
I put up a simple Facebook post explaining the goals of the project and the careers that students wanted to explore. I received hundreds of comments, texts, emails, and messages. Within a few days, we had 90 AVID sophomores paired up with “career mentors.”
The project has three parts: a professional email from students asking to set up an interview, the interview, and a one-day job shadowing experience followed by a reflection essay. Students got to teach mini-lessons as elementary teachers and spend time with doctors, nurses, and lawyers. Others even got to fly in planes at the Greeley airport to learn more about aviation careers.
At a time where public education is being questioned and challenged, our community got to meet our students and see how incredible they are. The students got to meet mentors and show that they really value their school, their education, and their community.
You helped start the Castle Clean Up. What is it and how did it evolve?
TikTok Challenges have encouraged negative behavior and school vandalism. Even though more than 95% of students are not involved, it impacts staff and community perceptions of all students.
As we returned for school in the fall of 2023, we had a staff meeting on student behavior concerns. I listened to the suggested solutions and felt we needed a different approach. I took my idea to our AVID classes. We began a program called the “Castle Clean Up.” (Greeley Central was built in 1927 and looks like a historic castle.)
Every month we would pick a day and stay after school to pick up trash inside the building and around the campus. We would also go in and wipe down every single desk and whiteboard in the school.
Office staff, teachers, custodians, and administrators were blown away by the number of students who showed up and how serious they took this task. The first clean-up was attended by freshmen in my AVID class but by the time the next date came, students from all four grades began to show up.
The number of students became so big that I had to find new ways for them to get involved. Students began volunteering to act as family liaisons and translators for back-to-school night and ninth grade orientation. They were student leaders and program advocates during parent-teacher conferences.
This simple project has done much more than making the halls and classrooms look more inviting and presentable. It’s created more positive interactions between students and staff and chipped away at negative perceptions. I cannot say that this project has completely changed the culture of a 1,600-student school, but what it has done is brought a wide range of students and staff together.
Staff members who made negative comments about student behavior in that staff meeting now contact me and ask for student volunteers to help with their events. We have even begun connecting with the local elementary and middle schools and volunteering at events like field days, track meets, and acting as mentors for younger students. This project started with about 20 students wearing rubber gloves and carrying trash bags and is now expanding out into the community of Greeley.
Tell us about a memorable time — good or bad — when contact with a student’s family changed your perspective or approach.
I remember hosting parent-teacher conferences for the first time and having very poor attendance. I followed up later that week with families I was hoping to meet with, assuming that the language barrier was the reason they did not attend. I even had a translator call with me in hopes of resolving their concerns.
What I learned from those phone calls was many of my student’s parents did not get a formal education through 12th grade. In fact, many barely got to finish elementary school. So while language was a hurdle, the real issue was not feeling comfortable in an American school. They trusted me as an educator to a fault and would not even question me if I was wrong. This changed how I viewed school and its role in connecting students and families to the school itself.
What are you reading for enjoyment?
I really enjoy understanding how people think and what they do to reach incredible levels of success. I am also a big sports fan and admire Coach Nick Saban. I am currently reading his book, “The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban” by John Talty. I really love how he pushes others to reach their full potential and even go beyond what they thought they were capable of.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, covering early childhood issues and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
