Teacher Christopher Pascone teaches the English language in elementary schools, at Superior Middle School, and at Superior High School all in a single day.

Pascone is an English as a second language (ESL) teacher who supports students that do not speak English as their primary language. These students are also known as English Language Learners (ELL). He started his work as an ESL teacher about 23 years ago in Russia.

Pascone went to Russia for a semester of study abroad when he was 20 years old. He was hooked by Russian culture at that time, which made him want to stay in Russia.

“I lived in a Russian dormitory, I attended classes with Russian students. These deep experiences introduced me to an amazing culture, and lots of new people,” Pascone said.

The problem is that he needed a work permit to gain a visa, so he chose to work as an ESL teacher to teach writing practice to Russian university students in St. Petersburg State University. He spent 14 years in St. Petersburg. However, Pascone came back to America in 2014 to be with his family.

“My wife had been on maternity leave from work for her work, but it didn’t seem like a good idea for her to go back to her previous job. She applied to go to the College of Saint Scholastica and got accepted. So we moved here for my wife to attend graduate school,” Pascone said.

After Pascone moved here, he continued to work as an ESL teacher. He works at Superior High School, Superior Middle School, Northern Lights Elementary, and Great Lakes Elementary. He usually travels between each of the schools to meet nine students a day.