LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

John Kelly was nominated by his colleague, Kathleen Rau.

Mr. Kelly has been a special education paraprofessional for many years. He spent a large portion of his career working with students who were labeled as emotionally behavior disordered. These students have very high needs and often have intense behavior issues. Mr. Kelly provided a level calm to these students, built positive relationships, and worked hard to help them all be successful.

For the past three years, he's worked with adult students with cognitive impairment in the Adult Transition Program. This program focuses on functional daily living and job skills. He was able to build relationships with all students very quickly and hit it off with his team from the start. He always has creative and fun ideas about how to approach things, and he takes on any new challenge with a positive attitude.

Mr. Kelly handled remote learning like a champ. He became proficient over Zoom and taught lessons to students from his kitchen and greenhouse. Also, to say he has been flexible this school year is an understatement. He has been pulled to substitute teach in many classrooms and buildings over this year. No matter what, he rolls with the changes and does what is needed.

"He's got a great rapport with all staff and students. We are going to miss him and everything he brings to our program," said Rau.