John Staller, a South English and ESL teacher, said he wanted to teach ESL kids because it’s like working “with family, and I wanted to be a welcoming, caring presence in their lives as they embark on their new journey in the United States.”

Staller has been teaching ESL students at South for three years and plans to continue that path until he retires from teaching. Once he retires, he said he would like to go live on a beach on South Padre Island in Texas.

Staller’s path to South was an “uninteresting” one. He said he worked in various jobs throughout his adult life, and “I hated all of them because I knew I wanted to be a teacher. I knew it from a young age. But I was too lazy and undisciplined to achieve my dream.”

Staller said he finally went to college at the age of 42, enrolled at Metro Community College and found himself sitting next to young adults who were less than half his age. “I didn’t feel weird; I felt like they were interested in me because of my age.”

He then went to UNO to get his teaching degree and began teaching at McMillan Magnet Junior High School in 2010. Afterwards he began working on his other degrees such as a master’s and an ESL endorsement. Staller said he got the ESL endorsement because he wanted to work with immigrant populations. “I didn’t just want to teach them English; I also wanted to hear their story and show them how to tell their story.”

Staller said he really enjoys his classes, and the students seem to enjoy being there. He describes his teaching as “very narrow; we are working on skills in writing, reading, speaking and listening by modeling and chunking things in small blocks so they can better understand it.” He said he is “high energy;” jumping around, yelling, laughing and getting the kids to go along. “I am spontaneous too. The ides come to me as I teach, and often the students lead me where they want to go.”