Northampton High School Teacher is
First Recipient of Smith College Teaching Award

Francis J. O'Donnell, long-time English teacher at Northampton High School, is the first recipient of the Smith College Secondary School Teaching Award. The award, initiated by members of Smith's Department of Education and Child Study, was established this year as a means of honoring outstanding area teachers.

O'Donnell, who has been a teacher at Northampton High School since 1966, will retire at the end of this year. Over time, he has coordinated the high school's involvement in the Coalition of Essential Schools movement, served as a mentor to teachers-in-training and as the local school system's teacher representative to the privately endowed Northampton Education Foundation. He is coordinator of the high school's Web page and facilitator of teacher workshops on the use of computer, software programs and Web page development for educational purposes.

In recent years, O'Donnell helped develop and then teach an interdisciplinary course called Quest, which inspired one of his former students to say "I can honestly say that I have never had a better teacher than Mr. O'Donnell." Of his 34-year career, O'Donnell says "There is nothing statistically remarkable about working in a profession for so longwith one possible exception. I chose to teach in one school, the school in which I once was a student myself."

"This award is our way of honoring some of the most important and influential people in our children's lives," says Maureen Mahoney, dean of the college at Smith. "We especially want to recognize teachers who quietly go about their business of inspiring and enriching the lives of their students, often with little acknowledgement of the extraordinary job they are performing."

O'Donnell received a B.A. in English from the University of Massachusetts, an M.A. in literature from Wesleyan University and additional credits for subsequent coursework at Smith College and Wesleyan. He will receive the $2,500 award at an event in April, during which he will also talk about his teaching career with members of the Smith faculty and Smith students who are planning to become teachers.

March 29, 2000