Mrs. O’Donnell is a new English teacher at Mashpee. She's been a teacher for a few years, and now at Mashpee she's enjoying the school, and the surroundings. She grew up at a farm in upstate New York and graduated from a school in North Carolina and became a teacher for two other schools before teaching at Mashpee High. I asked her a few questions to know a little bit more about her.
Q: What made you come to Mashpee schools?
A: “So I was looking for a school where I could be part of the community, and I good friend of mine was a math teacher here for a very long time. He’s retired a number of years ago, and he always had good things to say about Mashpee, he talked about it being a nice environment. I know people who’ve lived in Mashpee, and their kids have gone through the system, so it seemed like a good place to work. I also applied on the Cape because I have a lot of family on Cape, and it's really nice to be closer to family. So those two choices lead to me looking for a job here, and thankfully getting one.”
Q: What made you come to Mashpee schools?
A: “So I was looking for a school where I could be part of the community, and I good friend of mine was a math teacher here for a very long time. He’s retired a number of years ago, and he always had good things to say about Mashpee, he talked about it being a nice environment. I know people who’ve lived in Mashpee, and their kids have gone through the system, so it seemed like a good place to work. I also applied on the Cape because I have a lot of family on Cape, and it's really nice to be closer to family. So those two choices lead to me looking for a job here, and thankfully getting one.”
Q: How do you like Mashpee as a place?
A: “ I don’t know much about Mashpee as a place. I've been to the Commons, I've been to the fairgrounds, I think it's beautiful out here. All the conservation land is very nice. My sister-in-law used to live in Mashpee down 28 a bit of ways towards Cotuit, so I’m a little familiar with the area. I don’t know much about Mashpee, but I do like it.”
Q: How do you like Mashpee as a school system?
A: “I like it very much. I like how the students are really nice here, I feel like it's only November and I feel like I’ve already made good bonding relationships with students already. I enjoy my classes. It just really kind of feels good to get in and hit that stride, and really feel like I’m connecting to other students and teachers. I’m getting the curriculum down, I like what I teach, teaching American Literature is great, I like it here, I feel respected as a professional, and I feel like the school has the student’s interests at heart.”
Q: Do you have any passions outside of school?
A: “ I do, right now I have two sons. So I have them, and they take up a lot of time, but I love hanging out with them. I wouldn’t call this a passion, but I like hiking and birding. I do enjoy it, it's a nice way to get outside and get my kids off the Xbox and back into nature. I like to read, which I really do feel that when I have the opportunity to read, I feel more mentally fulfilled, so to say, even happier. I definitely do have a passion for literature. I'm trying to become a better cook. Birding is just you have different lists of different species of birds, the most interesting bird I’ve seen is the snowy owl. So you just keep a list and some people go in for depth on that, I’m just interested.”
Q: Why did you want to become a teacher?
A: “It’s hard to explain that one, because I’ve just always wanted to become teacher, even as a small child. When I go back that far I can’t figure out why. I always liked school. I always felt that I had good teachers. I felt that I was really helped by them. They really opened up a world of curiosity and interests. I still remember interactions with teachers since a young age and through college. It's just a place where I’ve felt good. I feel like teachers kind of fit well in school and got what the need to. I just enjoy working with students. I think it's interesting every day. I’m never bored when I come to school. There so many interesting things about teaching, and students have a lot to share as well. I was always interested in English, I got my bachelors in English, and I had my masters in education. I also would have gone into science. But I’ve always liked English as a subject.”
Q: What would you say is your favorite part of teaching?
A: I think it's discussions with students, when they get excited with topics. They have really interesting discussions. For example, they said that you cannot be happy without wealth, but they didn’t mean it in a superficial way; they meant to say if you’re starving you need money for the next meal. So they said you need money to be happy, so all the things stop weighing on you. While others really disagreed and had family and friends’ situations to support it. I was a really lively debate, and it was nice and kind of interesting.”
Q: What kind of writing genre do you like?
A: I used to read science fiction as a little girl, and I love it. I just love the imagination and the ‘what if’ about it. I think it's because my mother liked the shows like Star Trek and doctor who when I was a little kid. And that probably awakened my interest in it. I love ‘Sci Fi’.
Q: Do you have any pets?
A: I don't and it's kind of sad, because I grew up on a farm, and we had so many animals. We had horses, goats, cattles, llamas, chickens, cats, dogs, just all kind of animals. It's really weird that I don’t have any. But I would like a pet again. I would probably prefer a dog, but I would probably get a cat because we are not home all day.”