08/13/2026
Before I was “Miss Thomas,” I was a student sitting in silence with depression, anxiety, and panic attacks I didn’t have language for. I wasn’t okay, and I was spending all the energy I could muster to pretend that I was. My teachers saw through it anyway, which is why I call them my emotional first responders. They’re the reason I’m still here.
That experience became Happy Teacher Revolution: a peer support model built on the belief that educators can’t be expected to hold everyone else’s well-being if no one is holding theirs. What educators are asking for isn’t another self-care worksheet: it’s permission to stop, a place to land, and people who understand.
Ten years and thousands of educators later, the research backs up what I already knew in my body: Happy Teacher Revolution teachers with high psychological well-being are six times more likely to stay in education. Self-care isn’t the only fix for burnout. Toxic positivity and equity gaps are systemic failures, and they deserve a systemic response.
That’s the case my co-presenter Neesha Daulat (William James College) and I are making in our SXSW EDU session, “Education Workplace Well-being: A Public Health Imperative.” We’ll dig into the retention research and run a live demo of the peer support model that’s kept educators in the profession they love.
🍏We can’t get to that stage without your vote!
🗳️Vote @ the link in our bio!
➡️Voting closes August 23. It takes just a few seconds and it means the absolute world to have your support!
