Today we’d like to introduce you to Sara Toppe
Hi Sara, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a local fourth-grade teacher and the founder of The Teacher Care Club, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting educators’ mental health and well-being.
My teaching journey has taken me across the world. After graduating from Towson University, I moved to Prague, Czech Republic, where I taught at a bilingual school for three years. I then returned to the U.S. and spent two years teaching in New Hampshire before settling in Charleston, South Carolina, to be closer to family. I’ve been teaching here for the past four years.
In 2019, I started a teacher-focused Instagram account. Initially, it was just a way to share updates with friends and family, but it quickly became something much bigger. I began opening up about my own mental health struggles as an educator, sharing self-care tips and ideas to help other teachers prioritize their well-being while still giving their best to their students. Over time, my account grew to over 15,000 followers, and I started receiving countless messages from teachers expressing how much my openness about mental health had helped them navigate their own challenges.
During my time teaching in South Carolina, I experienced burnout for the first time. I was mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted, pouring everything into my students while neglecting my own well-being. That difficult period opened my eyes to the lack of accessible support for educators. I knew something needed to change—not just for me, but for teachers everywhere.
That realization led me to create The Teacher Care Club. Our mission is to empower and uplift educators by providing free mental health support, wellness resources, and community-building opportunities. We host meet-ups, happy hours, free yoga classes, and more—all designed to help teachers feel supported, valued, and connected.
Teaching is a demanding profession, but it doesn’t have to come at the cost of our well-being. Through The Teacher Care Club, I hope to create a culture where teachers can thrive—both inside and outside the classroom.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My teaching journey has been filled with highs and lows. Loving and taking care of my students has always come naturally to me. Loving and taking care of myself? Not so much. For most of my career, I prioritized my students and my classroom above everything else, convincing myself that sacrificing my own well-being made me a great teacher.
But after experiencing burnout, I had to face a hard truth: constantly putting my students first while neglecting my own needs wasn’t just unsustainable—it was harmful to my mental health. I reached a point where I struggled to find purpose outside of the classroom. Joy felt out of reach in every area of my life. My identity was so deeply tied to being a teacher that I felt like I had nothing else to offer the world. On top of that, I was working in an environment that made me question whether I wanted to stay in the profession at all. Teaching—the career I had once loved—was draining the life out of me.
With the help of an incredible therapist, I found practical, sustainable ways to put myself first without guilt. Now, I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been. I still love and care for my students deeply, but the difference is—I also love and care for myself.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
CCSD 4th Grade Teacher & Founder of The Teacher Care Club
How do you think about luck?
I don’t believe luck has played a role in my teaching and mental health journey. Instead, it has been a combination of hard work, resilience, and the support of incredible people along the way. Building The Teacher Care Club wasn’t a stroke of luck—it was a response to a real need I saw in the education world. I’ve had to be intentional in creating opportunities, building connections, and advocating for teacher well-being. That being said, I do feel incredibly grateful for the people who have supported this mission—whether it’s fellow educators, community members, or those who have shared their own struggles. Their belief in The Teacher Care Club has helped it grow into something meaningful, and for that, I’m forever thankful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.theteachercareclub.com
- Instagram: @theteachercareclub and @teachingwithtoppe
