O'Donnell, Dawn (1st) / Welcome

  Hi friends!
   My name is Dawn O'Donnell, and I am over the moon to be teaching 1st grade at Shawboro Elementary School again this year! I'm originally from Vidalia, GA and moved to Currituck County in 1999. I graduated from Georgia Southern University in 1995 with a degree in Anthropology. I thought for sure all I wanted to do when I grew up was to unearth amazing artifacts in exotic and adventurous locations.
   Flash forward two years later, and I was the mom of a fabulous little fella and married to the love of my life. Being a mom left little time for digging in dirt that wasn't at the beach or in a sandbox, so I postponed my dream of being a world famous anthropologist and fully embraced being a full time mom. When my son was four he started preschool, and I became an assistant and later a teacher at Kitty Hawk Methodist Preschool. After my son began kindergarten, I still taught preschool but went on to become a substitute teacher and the ESL tutor at Griggs Elementary.
   When my daughter was born several years later, I stayed home with her but went back to preschool when she was two. My daughter began kindergarten in 2010 and I took an assistant position in the NCPK classroom at Jarvisburg Elementary School. I spent five years as an assistant in the Pre-K classroom. During that time, I attended ECSU and received my certification in K-6 elementary education.
   This will be my 9th year teaching 1st grade at SES, and I think it will be a year full of happily ever afters and amazing adventures! Teaching is truly a dream come true for me and, as a result, I fully believe in greeting each day with enthusiasm and a sense of wonder at what the world has to offer. I hope this will be a great year for your child. I will do my very best to ensure that they are happy and that they truly want to become lifelong learners. At the very least, your little person will learn that books contain magic and happiness and that if they listen closely, the words will speak to their hearts.

I have two children of my own. My oldest, John Patrick, is in the Air Force and works as an operations research officer. He finished his masters degree last year and is pursuing a PHD. He is married to a super smart cookie who also has a beautiful heart. My youngest just began her first year at App State. She is currently a media broadcasting major and I know that she will go on to do amazing things. When I'm not teaching little people, I can be found at the beach, at the pool swimming laps with my husband, or knitting and daydreaming, or watching Star Wars & Marvel Movies or curled up with a good book and a cat in my lap. ( We have four - Sunday Meows, Willow, Oliver Furrypants and Scratchy Cat :) In addition to our furry cat friends, we have a dog named Buttercup who is rambunctious, full of energy and whose favorite pastime is dressing up as Wonder Woman :) Blue is our other dog and is just about the sweetest fella on the planet. His favorite words are breakfast, walk and ball and his favorite pastime is chasing our cats.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns by emailing me at dodonnell@currituck.k12.nc.us.