Shelly O'Donnell
Founder/Director
Teaching has been quite the journey beginning in the small town of Howe, Texas in 1995 and retiring in 2022 from another small town of Lockhart, Texas. For the majority of my teaching career, I taught high school American Sign Language with short stints in Deaf Education sprinkled throughout.
I earned a bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences & Disorders and a master's degree in Education of the Deaf at Texas Woman's University.
Now is my next chapter...helping to lessen the financial burden of teachers by collecting reused, recycled supplies and material from other teachers and the community and making them available to teachers. Give. Get. Reuse. Recycle.
Lockhart ISD welcomed a test-run of this project... "LockHEART for Teachers." My sincerest gratitude for trusting me in the project and to the Special Education Related Service team for sharing my vision and working to sort, shelve, box and deliver supplies and materials for teachers.
Now is the time to make it BIG in Central Texas!
Liz McGehee
President
Liz McGehee hails from Oklahoma and Texas. A graduate of Rice (B.A.) and the University of Iowa (M.A., Communications Studies), she has been a teacher in Brooklyn, a video producer at Teach For America, and has been doing video work professionally since 2007, working with clients such as The Louisiana Department of Education, Committee of 100, 4.0 Schools, Vidcode, Ripple Effect, Relay Graduate School of Education, New Schools for New Orleans, mSchool, Bourne Digital, Smartcoos, Glitterati Inc. and Goodwill Industries. She has also had her work published in Res, Essence and on CNN.com.
A self-proclaimed “big nerd,” Elizabeth enjoys cooking, travel, science, design, and the outdoors. She lives in Austin with her husband and their dog.
Jeanette Gross
Treasurer
Jeanette Gross is a Secondary MathematicsTeacher.
She retired from teaching in 2018. She taught all mathematics subjects from 7th-12th grade. Her love of Algebra is not so unusual for a mathematics teacher, but she relishes the challenge of a Geometry proof! Call her crazy, but she likes the challenge. It’s that love of a good challenge that she found herself spending her last 15 years of her 32 year career,
teaching middle school, 7th and 8th grade, in Allen, TX at Allen ISD. Many find those ages
difficult to teach, and at that age they tend to lose interest in math. Jeanette loved to find new ways to keep them interested and engaged!
Jeanette never shied away from the newest technology or teaching tools, such as smart boards or online games.
Jeanette moved to Austin after she retired in 2018 and although she wasn’t actively looking for a new challenge, she joined The Teacher Reuse!
“I was blessed to work in a district that could afford to ‘keep up’ with current innovations and trends, but I still spent a hefty chunk of my own money on my own classroom and instruction materials that I wanted for my kids. That is why I know The Teacher Reuse is such a wonderful use of my time and experience!"
Isla Riley
Board Member
For the past 8 years I have been working in the Austin area as a pharmacy technician. I am so honored to now serve our community in another way that will have a lasting impact.
Brandi Pratt
Secretary
Brandi is the PTA president at her son's school. She is very involved with both her children's education and has first-hand knowledge of the needs of teachers in their classrooms.
She enjoys being involved in education and this nonprofit is just one more part of how she serves the community.
Elise Nignan
Board Member
I am Elise Nignan and live in Manor, Texas. My degree is in management and business strategy.
I love to dance and to travel the world. I have been to several African countries, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Italy and Algeria.
I met Shelly through my husband. She is a loving, protective person and always ready to help other people. This project is just one example of her willingness to serve others.
Sheryl Buck
Sheryl Buck is a certified EC-6th grade teacher who retired from teaching in 2019. She taught kindergarten to fourth grade in both the public and private sectors. Her passion for teaching and helping students was realized in first grade.
From being a former educator, she knows the struggles that educators endure to supply for the needs of their students. She spent many countless hours, resources, and her own money to ensure her students were successful. This is why The Teacher Reuse program is so near and dear to her heart.
Cindy Naples
Bookroom
Every single book was unboxed, sorted, and shelved by volunteer Cindy Naples of Buda, Texas.
(She probably read all of them too!)
Thank you, Cindy!
~The Teacher Reuse Team
