Seventh grader Blake Johnson was walking down a short hallway to drop off some papers for a teacher. She stopped in her tracks and listened; she heard the lovely sound of someone playing the guitar. She tried to figure out where the sound was coming from and the sound led her right to Casey O’Donnell’s office. O’Donnell was playing the guitar in his office. Not only does he sound nice playing the guitar but he also helps students learn English to help them still have an education even when they don’t speak the same language.

O’Donnell works with English learners and teachers to make sure they can still have an education even in a new country. He is an English Language teacher and when asked about what he does O’Donnell says, “I work with English learners, people who maybe don’t have English proficiency to be independent in their General Education classes (Gen-ed) and so I work with them.” When he is not working with English learners, he is working with their parents, which O’Donnell says, “is a facet of the job.” O’Donnell also tries to work with Gen-Ed teachers and he says he does this, “to help them have accommodations and do some modifications for tests or assignments or projects.”

O’Donnell likes his job some days more than others. He says his favorite part of his job is seeing his students come out of their shell. O’Donnell says, “It takes seven to ten months, but then to see someone who is new to the country who just arrived from their home country and to come here, they start asking more questions, they start engaging in more conversations.” O’Donnell loves seeing that because he says, “There is a whole blooming of a personality that you don’t really see.” O’Donnell works really hard to connect with each and every one of his students to make sure they all feel welcome at Cannon Falls, because moving to a new country is hard.

Outside of school, O’Donnell is an inspiration. Outside of school, he might be doing some of his favorite hobbies. He has many hobbies, including playing the guitar, reading, and walking his dog. O’Donnell is trying out new hobbies and one of them is being more artistic, but there is one problem: “I keep waiting for the muse to come down.” O’Donnell says his favorite hobby is, “probably strumming the guitar.”

Working with people who don’t speak the same language as you can be hard but Mr. O’Donnell is willing to put in the effort to let English learners get the help they need. He is here to help people who don’t speak English and that is important. A lot of people need help because they don’t speak English. Mr. O’Donnell is an inspiring and encouraging person and it is amazing that he is a teacher at Cannon Falls Schools.