This Utah teacher is paying off student lunch debts — one TikTok dance at a time

Kati Jo Christensen is on a social media mission. Her ask to TikTokers who stumble upon her videos is simple: stay for a minute and watch her dance.

Her stage is most often her classroom — it looks like any other elementary school room with its brown cabinets and gray carpet. Christensen’s creative touch, colorful posters, cactus-themed office supplies and decorations make it shine. Her dance mix consists of classics from different eras — hits from NSYNC, The Killers, The Weeknd, Lady Gaga, Post Malone, ABBA and more.

But the motivation behind her videos always remains the same.

Christensen, a special education teacher in the Weber School District, is using the money she earns from the videos and donations — over $11,000 as of early March — to pay off student lunch debt in Utah. She posts on TikTok under the username MrsCactusVibes.

“These kids can’t learn unless they have food in their bellies, and they’re worrying about their parents paying for it,” she said. “I just want to make sure that these kids aren’t feeling the weight of adult problems when they’re only in elementary.”

Christensen’s first experiences with school lunch debt go back to when she was a student growing up in Utah.

“I remember when I was in school,” she said, “if you didn’t have enough money on your lunch account, you would only get a carton of milk and then maybe a handful of carrots or a roll, because they couldn’t give you food unless you paid for it.”

Now, things are different. Elementary school kids are not denied lunch in Utah, Christensen said, but the cost of that can add up against students.

“Every time that child eats that kind of amount of how much the lunch or breakfast is, [it] goes on their school account saying that they owe so much money,” Christensen said. “With the deficit, it just kind of continues to rise until that parent is able to pay it off.”

Utah schools have amassed $2.8 million in school lunch debt. In September, according to the Utah News Dispatch, Gov. Spencer Cox announced he would use $1.2 million in federal funds to start a new grant program to alleviate some of those balances.

As the 2025 legislative session came to a close, state lawmakers passed HB100, which would create a program to provide free meals to eligible students and require the State Board of Education to reimburse schools. Early versions of the bill drew concern from GOP lawmakers about government “dependency,” but the legislation passed and now heads to Cox’s desk.

Christensen said lunch debts can follow kids all the way to high school.

“They’ll get to the point where they’re trying to graduate and get their diploma,” she said, “but they can’t get that diploma until they’ve paid off all of their fees and lunch dues.”

Christensen started creating her videos eight months ago, at the end of July, after being inspired by another TikTok creator. It was one way she could help chisel away at her school’s $4,000 lunch deficit.

Then donations from family and friends started trickling in. A hundred bucks here, $30 there, all in the hopes of wiping out a debt that could eventually prevent a kid from getting a diploma.

“I thought, ‘That’s it; that’s probably the biggest dent we’re going to make,’” Christensen said. “Then one of my videos just took off, and we had $4,000 paid off in a week.”

The vast majority of money she’s gotten from her videos has come from donations, but viewers who stay tuned in for at least 60 seconds help her generate revenue from TikTok.

Christensen took those donations straight to her school to pay off its students’ balances. Then, she took money to another school nearby that she knew was also struggling.

“We’re actually on our third school right now, and I think we have about $2,000 left on their deficit to get paid off,” Christensen said, adding that she also hears from other parents and teachers about which schools might be the most in need.

Christensen reads comments on her videos from viewers who are shocked that school lunches aren’t free in Utah, but mostly, she said, people just want to help out, either by watching her dances or donating directly to the cause through apps like Venmo.

When she started making her videos, Christensen said her idea was to keep doing them until she could pay off the entire state’s lunch debt. She’s looking to partner with a nonprofit, or start her own, so she can continue doing this work.

“I hate the idea that these kids are starting off their lives with a debt. They’re already in debt, and they’re tiny,” Christensen said, tearing up. “They are worried about their parents, about where their meals are going to come from. They’re taking on grown-up problems at the age of 9, 10, 11, 12.”

The kids are the future, she said, and they deserve better.