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Rachel Langenhorst

@rlangenhorst

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K-12 Tech Integrationist/Coach, Mayo Clinic Ed. Specialist, Apple Teacher, Google Cert. Lvl 2, Adjunct Prof, Mom & Wife...Not in order of importance.

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by @rlangenhorst

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2 months ago

Empty Nest Chronicles: Father’s Day Edition

Turns out fatherhood doesn’t end when your kids move out. It just becomes remote technical support.

Most days, Deric is answering FaceTime calls that start with, “Dad… why is my car making this noise?” or “Dad… how do I fix this?” while trying to diagnose the problem through an iPhone camera pointed at literally everything except the problem.

Then there was Apartment Weekend.

Six hours assembling furniture that was purchased because it was “cute.” We survived on frozen pizza and kettle chips while questioning the sanity of whoever writes furniture instructions.
The amazing thing? He never stopped helping.

The man can build, run, fix, or figure out just about anything. How? Only God knows. But it’s a gift that has saved this family more times than I can count and does it all while keeping us laughing.

More importantly, our kids know they can always call him. And he always answers.

I love this man so much, and I’m incredibly thankful he’s the father of our three grown hoodlums.

Happy Father’s Day, Deric. ❤️ by @rlangenhorst

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4 months ago

Happy 29th Birthday to my firstborn.

I’d like to start by addressing the obvious: there is absolutely no mathematical explanation for how I could have a 29-year-old son when I am, at most, 35 years old. Scientists should probably study this phenomenon.

But somehow here we are.

Alex, you are everything we hoped and prayed you would become, and then some. You are a devoted husband, an incredible father, a man of your word, a servant-leader, and the kind of person everyone wants in their corner when life gets hard. You show up. You work hard. You protect the people you love. You make us proud not because of what you accomplish, but because of who you are.

Watching you become a husband and father has been one of the greatest gifts of my life. And getting to watch you love your little boy might be my favorite chapter yet.

You have always been the kind of person who quietly carries more than your share, serves without needing recognition, and puts others before yourself. The world needs more men like you.

I love you more than coffee, and that’s the single highest badge of honor available in my lineup. 😘 Happy Birthday to my not-so-little boy.

💙 Yo Mama by @rlangenhorst

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4 months ago

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5 months ago

We really said, “Let’s celebrate our birthdays,” and then proceeded to cover approximately 47 climates, 5 cities, 1 international border, and the full range of excitement and fear.

Palm Springs: gorgeous Coachella weekend. Again questions “Why Iowa?!”
LA: aggressive but make it scenic.
Pacific Coast Highway: I became a reflective documentary narrator for 3 straight hours.
Oceanside: immediately decided I should live there despite knowing almost zero things about it. And then we hit San Diego… where I briefly considered becoming a different person. Like someone who jogs on the beach at sunrise and eats acai bowls and has zero responsibilities. That version of me lasted 11 minutes but it was beautiful.

Also San Diego gave us: perfect weather, ocean views that make you rethink your zip code, and just enough peace to balance out everything else we had already done… which at that point felt like a full Olympic event.

And THEN… because clearly we lack supervision… we crossed into Tijuana for dinner at a Gordon Ramsay-approved restaurant like we’re seasoned international food critics. Sir. We are from the Midwest.

At one point I looked at Mason and thought, “Am I raising a world traveler or just enabling chaos?” Jury’s still out. When the officer himself says, “Maybe this was a bad idea,” my anxiety goes up to level 9. We survived and thrived (or at least lived to tell).

He took it all in, though. Every second. Met some of my favorite humans, handled my commentary and forced history lessons like a champ, and didn’t once ask to be returned home… which feels like a win.

But here’s the thing no one tells you:
One-on-one trips with your kids hit different.
You laugh harder. You talk about real things. You realize they’ve quietly become someone you genuinely enjoy being around… not just someone you kept alive.

Happy 24th, Mason Thomas.

You’ll always be my favorite brown-eyed baby boy… even if we now cross international borders for dinner and act like it’s just a normal Tuesday. by @rlangenhorst

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6 months ago

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6 months ago

Another very busy day at @asugsvsummit collaborating, learning, and reimagining the future of education. There are conferences… and then there are those two days where your brain is buzzing, your notes are chaos, and you keep thinking, “This. This is why I love this work.”

ASU+GSV, you never disappoint.

Two days in and here’s what’s already hitting:

The conversations are sharper.
The urgency is real.
And the gap between what could be happening for kids and what is happening feels both smaller and more solvable when you’re in rooms like these.

I’ve sat in sessions where people stopped speaking in buzzwords and started speaking in truth. About systems that aren’t working. About students who are still being missed. About what it actually takes to move from intention to impact.

And then there are the hallway conversations.
You know the ones. The unplanned, unscripted, “tell me what you’re actually seeing” kind. Those are where the real magic lives.

What I’m loving most so far:

• The shift from tools to outcomes
• The focus on foundational skills as the starting point, not the afterthought
• The people who are brave enough to say, “We have to do this differently” and actually mean it
• Investors and philanthropists (Wow-Goldie Hawn is doing some amazing work!) putting their money behind things that matter

Also… can we talk about the energy? It’s electric in the best way. Not performative. Not surface-level. It feels like people are here to do something.

And personally, getting to connect, laugh, learn, and be in this space with people who care deeply about kids and educators…That part never gets old.

We’re two days in, and I already have a page full of ideas I can’t wait to bring back.

Because this work matters. And rooms like this remind me exactly why. by @rlangenhorst

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6 months ago

Fun update because, apparently, I’m an idiot who can’t read a calendar. Murphy’s bday is in MAY. Consider it early birthday love. It’s all still wildly true. 😘Murphy turns another year older today, which feels like the perfect time to acknowledge a few important truths.

First, Murphy is the sweetest soul on planet Earth. This dog loves like it is his full-time job. He greets every human like a long-lost war hero returning home. He believes every visitor came specifically to see him. He would also very much like to sit directly on your chest while expressing this love.

Which brings us to Murphy’s only minor identity issue: Murphy is absolutely convinced he is a tiny lapdog.

In Murphy’s mind he weighs approximately seven pounds, fits neatly into the crook of your arm, and should be carried around like a delicate little teacup angel.

In reality, Murphy is more like a harbor seal with muscle and lands on your lap with the subtlety of a falling piano. It’s less of a cuddle and more of a structural event. Furniture groans. Internal organs shift. You briefly consider your will and testament.

Murphy also loves to rub his hips against you in what he believes is a sweet little affectionate nudge. Unfortunately, he performs this maneuver with the force and enthusiasm of a Payloader. Your kneecaps weren’t supposed to move that way? Who knew?!

Pure love.
Industrial strength.

And yet he looks up at you with those sweet eyes, absolutely convinced he is a precious little baby who wants to be right by you. RIGHT. BY. YOU. at all times.

So naturally you say, “Yes, of course you do, sir,” while slowly losing circulation in both legs.

Happy birthday to our giant, snuggly harbor-seal lapdog. The sweetest boy. The heaviest blessing. The only creature on Earth who can crush you with love… literally.

We adore you, Murphy. Murph. Murph-dawg. Murphy-durfy. 🐾 by @rlangenhorst

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7 months ago

District leaders and teachers are seeing it everywhere.

Students who have not yet developed the foundational skills needed to access instruction and learn how to learn are showing up across grade levels.

In some cases, these needs emerge in early childhood.
In others, they surface years later as increased service intensity, behavioral escalation, or placement pressure.

Join us March 4 at 10:00 AM CST for a National Leadership Roundtable featuring district leaders from rural, suburban, and urban communities who are working to strengthen early skill systems to:

• improve academic readiness in early learners
• address foundational skill gaps in older students
• increase instructional consistency across classrooms
• strengthen teacher confidence
• reduce reactive placement decisions

Out-of-district placements can exceed $100,000 per student per year when tuition and transportation are included. Strengthening foundational skills earlier allows districts to respond proactively and support more students through aligned instruction.

If your team is working to meet increasing student need while making strategic use of limited resources, this conversation is for you.

Register here: https://tinyurl.com/stagesroundtable by @rlangenhorst

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8 months ago

Pardon me while I grieve… this is a sucker punch. I’d already like a refund on 2026. by @rlangenhorst

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9 months ago

Every once in a while, life stacks the deck to see what you are made of.

Today, Alex officially became a Doctor of Nursing Practice, which is already a big, impressive, holy-cow kind of sentence. But just for fun, in these last four weeks, he decided to simultaneously become a first-time parent, finish clinicals, defend his doctoral project, and move through one of the most demanding seasons of adulthood. Because, why not?

Casual.

He did it with grace, grit, and a metric load of caffeine. There were a few freak-outs, as there should be, quickly managed by a saint of a wife, reality-check FaceTimes, decompression moments of gaming with his siblings over the Interwebs, and the healing powers of newborn snuggles with Baby Brooks, who clearly arrived knowing his dad needed a reminder of why any of this matters.

Alex has always been a little like his mama, wired to chase the next thing. Not for the title or the applause, but because somewhere in the distance is a way to do meaningful work and make a difference. He does not just seek knowledge. He wants impact. And now he is stepping into the world with both.

In a year that felt determined to outdo itself in creative hardship, watching Alex achieve a dream he first whispered to us as a five-year-old navigating his own medical hardships is the kind of pride that takes your breath away.

He did not do this alone. He finished this journey alongside one of his dearest friends, Brandon, and their unexpected ride-or-die addition, Bri, who started as a study partner and ended up a lifelong friend. The kind of people who join you in the trenches and remind you of why you’re there in the first place, laugh when you are fried, and remind you that you are not crazy, or at least not alone.

And, per Mizzou tradition, they left their mark-literally (DNP ‘25 A B B)- and walked away bolder, brighter, and determined to change healthcare for the better.

The world needs providers like him.
And Brooks is one lucky kid.

Onward, Dr. Langenhorst. Go do some more good. MIZ-ZOU! taken in University of Missouri at Columbia by @rlangenhorst

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10 months ago

Happy 27th birthday to our incredible Jae! 🤍

You are truly the most amazing daughter-in-law! You’re unbelievably kind, steady, thoughtful, and exactly the perfect match for Alex. You balance him, challenge him, and love him so well, and we are endlessly grateful for the life you’re building together.

Watching you as a wife and as the very best mommy to Brooks has been one of the greatest joys. He is so lucky to have you, and so are we. We love you more than words and are so thankful you’re ours. 🎂🥳 Now, go get spoiled! 💗 by @rlangenhorst

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10 months ago