Jonathan Cahill
What do you like best about working as a special education aide?
“I think working with a large variety of students. I’m in all of these different classes throughout the day and some of the kids I see in different repeat classes, but a lot of the time I am working with new, different kids which is a lot of fun. Getting to meet new people is fun and I coach some sports and sometimes I’m working with kids that I have in football or baseball which is awesome.”
What do you do over the course of a day as an aide?
“Each day is a little different depending on what the needs are that day. Sometimes a student I work with isn’t here and so then I have to figure out where I can be more useful. I’d say it’s a mix between helping them in a learning center, which is pretty much just a study, and so it’s an opportunity to maybe work on homework or a test someone didn’t finish or a big project that’s coming up. The other part is going to the actual classes. Some of the classes I’m good in and I know a lot of the stuff going into it, but a class like chemistry is like I’m retaking it. So I have to make sure I know everything so that I can then help a kid that might be struggling or might not be here for a few days and then I have to catch them up on everything.”
What are the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your job this year?
“This year, I would say everyone’s stamina, including teachers, was a little lower to start. With COVID and the past two years and the hybrid schedule being at home, it’s been tricky for a lot of people to do the everyday grind. Even for myself, we have a football season and two seasons ago in the spring, it was six games, and then we had eleven games in the fall. So I think building back that stamina has been the hardest part for everybody. We have one term left so I’m hopeful we’ll finish strong, but the expectations have been a lot higher this year which I think has been a struggle for a lot of people.”
What do you think about working at ARHS?
“I love it. I went here, I graduated in 2015 and I think if you look around the building, a lot of teachers are alumni and I think that speaks to the school. It’s a great school and a good district to work for and getting to come back and work with teachers that I had is really awesome. It’s cool being on the other side of things and seeing how everything works. There’s a lot of fun to this job. I have a lot of friends that are off doing things that they are miserable doing like sitting at a computer and punching in numbers into a spreadsheet all day. Where this, each day is fun and there’s something new every day, and there’s something to look forward to like games, or prom, or any big event.”
What do you like to do in your free time?
“As a coach, I’m not going to really call that free time, but I enjoy coaching a lot. Doing things like that outside of work and coaching is good. I like going and playing golf and going around and playing basketball with friends. Last summer, I went to a bunch of WooSox games. Things like that, where I can enjoy my passions that I do for work, but out on my own time.”
What would your students be surprised to learn about you?
“I play the piano, not great, but a lot of people don’t realize that. I worked for the Red Sox in college, which I don’t really talk about a ton. It was the perfect summer job. I won employee of the month while I was there and I got to go out on the field and meet some players. It was an unbelievable experience. I have some musical talent at home that I just kind of mess around with, but working with the RedSox in college was really cool.”