As the doors open on a new school year, returning students and staff can spot new faces among the community, ranging in positions from religion and counseling to robotics and math. 

Every new school year means meeting new people, and to help students and staff alike know more about these fresh faces in the halls, The Falconer spoke to them, aiming to discover more about their journey to La Salle, their aspirations for the year, and who they are as a person when not on campus. 

These six additions to our community are religion teacher Ms. Katie Cassidy, science teacher Ms. Sarah Connolly, Counselor Ms. Megan Huynh, Director of Computer Science and Robotics Mr. Aaron Milam, Director of Community and Student Leadership Mr. Quinn Peoples, and math teacher Ms. Heather Quinter. 

Ms. Katie Cassidy

Grady Wilkinson, Assistant Editor

Before coming to La Salle to work as a religious studies teacher, Ms. Katie Cassidy was a theology and yoga teacher at St. Mary’s Academy, where she went to high school. She was inspired to go into education by her former English teacher, Ms. Carrie Housely. 

“I had other teachers who were instrumental too, but she would be the top pick,” she said. “So when I went to teach at St. Mary’s, I got to teach alongside her, and that was really fantastic.” 

Before St. Mary’s, she taught middle schoolers at Our Lady of the Lake Catholic School in Lake Oswego.

Ms. Cassidy has a very personalized teaching style, with her ultimate goal being to make sure her students grow as people as well as learn and understand what they’re being taught. 

“I love to build relationships and get to know them as individual people,” she said. “Everybody’s a different learner, and so the more that I learn about my students, the more I feel like I can hit those different learning targets within a whole classroom filled with 30 different people.”

When she’s not in the classroom, Ms. Cassidy loves spending time outside. She especially enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, and boating with her dog Moose, and wishes she had more time to spend in nature.

“I would like to spend more time taking my dog to cool places,” Ms. Cassidy said. “She rides on my paddleboard, and she likes to canoe, and she likes to do all sorts of stuff.”

Besides outdoor activities, Ms. Cassidy loves to read and will read virtually all types of books, depending on her mood. She previously taught English, having studied it during her undergraduate degree at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and she has masters degrees in both English and theology.

Ms. Cassidy fell in love with theology because of how closely tied it is to literature.

“It was always something that I grew up with a lot of interest in,” she said. “When you study literature too, theology is always a part of it.”

If she hadn’t gone into teaching, Ms. Cassidy likely would have gone into a science-based field. 

“I love nutrition science and physical therapy and those kinds of things, and I definitely could have seen myself going into that,” she said. “I myself was in physical therapy for a while rehabbing a knee injury and then a back injury and I just became fascinated with the mechanics of that.”

Despite not having an idea of what to expect going in, Ms. Cassidy has thoroughly enjoyed her time at La Salle so far. 

“It feels like a really peaceful place to me,” she said. “There’s always anticipation before something new, but now that we’re in it and I’ve met my students and have my room set up, I’m feeling really optimistic about it. I think it’s going to be really good here.”

Ms. Sarah Connolly

Finn Christensen-McElroy, Editor in Chief

For science teacher Ms. Sarah Connolly, her love of education — and her new role at La Salle — isn’t simply about the physics she teaches every day. Science wasn’t even her favorite class in high school, and neither science nor teaching were careers she initially intended to pursue, as she started out at Oregon State University (OSU) majoring in civil engineering. 

Instead, it’s about the people. 

“My favorite thing is teaching and building relationships with kids,” she said. “Being an educator and having a community around me of other teachers and parents and kids — that’s why I do this.” 

Teaching has been a dream of Ms. Connolly’s since she was in elementary school, and though she deviated from following it during her initial time in college to focus on her love of math, it became clear early on that engineering wasn’t the right fit for her. 

“My freshman year of college, I was taking this civil engineering class about concrete and dirt, and I wanted nothing to do with concrete and dirt,” she said. 

The class that she did love, though, was chemistry. 

From the professor and the labs to the encouraging, collaborative atmosphere, switching tracks to focus on chemistry seemed natural for her. The process was “pretty organic” once she decided to do so, she explained, as OSU’s course setup allowed her to take electives focused on education while majoring in chemistry. 

Eventually working as a teaching assistant before graduating with a masters in education, Ms. Connolly explained that her advice to seniors going into college is to have flexibility in what they pursue and follow what they truly are passionate about. 

“Your first major probably won’t be what you end up in,” she said. “Whatever classes you enjoy the most, that’s what you should pursue, because that is what the real world is going to look like. And you don’t have to stick with a major if you don’t love it.” 

Now in her fourth year of teaching, and instructing both Learning How to Learn and freshman physics, Ms. Connolly explained that one of her goals for the year is to cultivate in her classroom the kind of welcoming and inviting atmosphere she’s experienced so far at La Salle. 

“I always strive for my classroom and my space to be a place where everyone feels welcome, to be able to tell me if they don’t understand something, and just create this space where you don’t have to be a perfect learner, but we’re going to learn together,” she said. “That whole culture behind it, that is always my goal every single year.”

As someone who describes herself as extroverted and funny, she tries to use those attributes to connect with her students, aiming to support freshmen throughout her courses and help them improve in a subject they might not initially feel as confident in. 

She doesn’t expect them to be perfect or get 100% on every test. Rather, her goal is for them to be able to have positive memories and associations with their time in her class and enter sophomore year seeing science as something that’s “possible for them,” she said.  

“In 10 years, no one’s going to remember what they learned their freshman year of physics,” she said. “I don’t remember anything more than my teacher’s name from physics class. But I do remember enjoying it, and I remember being creative with labs, and I remember the positive atmosphere I had in my class.” 

Ms. Megan Huynh

Esmé Ryznar, Editor

Born and raised around Portland, new counselor Ms. Megan Huynh went to Clackamas High School and attended Pacific University. In college, though she studied psychology, graphic design, and education, the latter two did not end up being her passions. 

“Graphic design was fun, but it didn’t provide the human interaction,” she said. “I like working with people.” 

Psychology offered more to do with people, and provided career opportunities that aligned with what she wanted.

“Learning about human development, how people behave, why they behave the way they do,” she said. “It felt right, and there was a pathway to work with kids.”

She went to graduate school, but psychology didn’t quite fill the community aspect, so she switched to social work, which was “very hard, but very fun,” she said. She also did career development at Sabin-Schellenburg Center.

Now, La Salle marks the first actual school Ms. Huynh has worked at. “My old job, I was in juvenile detention, so very different population,” she said. “The kids were great there too.” 

Since joining La Salle’s community, “I’ve enjoyed getting to know the kids at La Salle,” she said. Also noting the faculty’s friendliness, she appreciates the warm atmosphere of the school.

One way Ms. Huynh was able to build confidence was through a particular class she took in school — Environmental Science. Some of her favorite things from the class were learning how to make a stove out of a can and learning different cordage techniques. 

As a kid, Ms. Huynh enjoyed breakdancing for fun and playing basketball. She played through college but hurt her back and had to eventually stop. Now, she would be interested in coaching if possible. 

An avid sports fan, her favorite teams are the Portland Trailblazers and New York Liberty — partially because of the Liberty’s cool mascot. At La Salle, she is excited for the upcoming sports season and hopes to watch some games, especially during basketball season. 

Outside of work, Ms. Huynh enjoys playing video games and cooking, with her favorite dish being pho. She describes cooking it as “a whole-day commitment,” she said, meaning “I have to really lock in.”   

Ms. Huynh heard about La Salle after her brother texted her and said “I could see you working here.” When students come to meet with her now, she wants them to know that “this space is meant to be your space,” she said. “There [are] no set rules or guidelines when you come into this space … you can just simply exist and feel safe in an environment.”

Personally, the best piece of advice she has is “the best way to get comfortable is to first be uncomfortable with something,” she said. “That’s the only way you can grow.”

Mr. Aaron Milam

Kailin Quatela , Assistant Editor

For Mr. Aaron Milam, the new Director of Computer Science and Robotics, his journey to La Salle was not a straight line. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, explored the East Coast, lived in New York, and then moved to Oregon. 

He attended Loyola High School, which is a Jesuit High School. As far as classes, he recalled that he enjoyed religion, and it influenced him to minor in Asian studies in college.

Mr. Milam was majorly interested in soccer during high school as well as studying computer science. “I did two semesters of it, and actually went into undergrad as a computer science electrical engineering major, and then switched because I had a horrible math teacher and a really good philosophy teacher,” he said.

He finished high school and completed college up to a masters degree in Los Angeles, earning both a bachelors and a masters in philosophy. 

After finishing school, he began to pursue sailing. He spent summers in Camden, Maine, and winters in Key West, Florida. Mr. Milam traveled all around the East Coast, to the Caribbean, and more. However, he said Key West was his favorite and recalled it as a “different life.”

In 2004, Mr. Milam moved to New York and started training full time at a jiu jitsu school called Renzo Gracie Academy. When he moved to Portland, he continued teaching the martial art, as he has been training people in Brazilian jiu jitsu for the past 25 years. In 2013, Mr. Milam opened up a Renzo Gracie location in North Portland. 

Since then, he has re-entered the world of robotics and went back to school for a masters in computer science in 2020. After noticing that La Salle was hiring, he reached out. 

“[I] was like, ‘Hey, I’m just finishing up my degree. [I’m] ready for a career change, this works for me,’ and, you know, they thought it was a good fit, and I was lucky to be hired,” he said.

Although he is only teaching one course, Mr. Milam wants to find a way for each student to feel enthusiastic about the curriculum, and hopes that by drawing out a students’ ability to be comfortable and creative, they will enjoy the learning process.

“I need to find a way for every student to be creative,” he said.

Additionally, Mr. Milam has large aspirations for the future of the courses. His hopes are to start up a robotics club, establish a team, and build the community among STEM students. 

“I’m excited to see, I guess, how far we can get,” Mr. Milam said. “Not just what excitement I get from the kids, but what exactly they get excited about, because it’s kind of a wild card, and I get to just sort of build the class as we go along.”

Mr. Quinn Peoples

Harper Coleman, Editor

Asked to write a 500-word essay about something that he truly believed in, a college-aged Mr. Quinn Peoples wasn’t sure at first what to write about. Reflecting, he remembered how his education had impacted him — the people it allowed him to meet and the doors it opened up for him.

“I just call myself a lifelong learner, a student of life and the game and all those things,” Mr. Peoples said.

At La Salle, he will continue chasing that passion as the Director of Community and Student Leadership and the teacher of the Leadership and Yearbook classes.

Mr. Peoples has worked in several different states at schools both public and private, secular and religious, and in varying positions. Though he was interested in La Salle due to his experience in Jesuit education, the freedom the position offered drew him in as well.

“I was like, ‘this is a place that I could definitely see myself doing great work,’” he said.

Self-described as a “late bloomer,” Mr. Peoples’ first-grade teacher made a huge impact on him growing up as one of the few teachers who believed in him and his capabilities. She took the time to make sure he learned the material and got all the information he needed.

“I’m really grateful to her, because I don’t think without that foundation that she set for me I would have been able to go through the rest of school with the kind of confidence that I needed to get there,” Mr. Peoples said.

It’s that same sense of personalism and care that he tries to pass along to his students every day, he said.

“I think we underestimate the power of being a person that other people can go to,” he said. “There’s just an ethic of care that you can’t teach, you can’t fake.”

Growing up, he lived with people from all walks of life as the son of a foster mom, sharing his home with over 100 foster siblings. With his mother being former military as well, the household was run in a group-oriented fashion.

“If one person was in trouble, we were all in trouble, and if one of us did good, we all did good,” he said. “It taught me to move as a team and as a unit more than as an individual person.”

When he’s not working, Mr. Peoples spends time with his wife of four years, their two cats Amigo and Winston, and their friends and family. If given more free time, however, he would consistently invest it in charity and volunteer work.

“I just wish I had more time in between those things to be out working for causes that I care about, helping people who don’t otherwise have the means to help themselves,” he said.

Looking out on the year, Mr. Peoples is both nervous about getting used to new responsibilities and energized by the fresh environment. In particular, he looks forward to teaching both the Yearbook and Leadership classes, the former being something he’s never advised before and the latter being a favorite subject of his.

All in all, he anticipates an exciting first year at La Salle, and hopes to be able to connect with and help the students on a more personal level.

“There’s this quote by George Matthew Adams: ‘I shall try to make my life like an open fireplace, so that people may be warmed and cheered by it and so go out themselves to warm and cheer,’” Mr. Peoples said. “I just want to be a source of passion, a source of joy, and I want to embody that in whatever I teach and whatever I do.”

Ms. Heather Quinter

Clover Martin, Assistant Editor

Be Kind. Be Courageous. Do Your Best. Show Up (With a Willingness to Learn). Work with Anyone.

Written in red marker in the top right of her whiteboard, these are the first five of math teacher Ms. Heather Quinter’s classroom rules. She takes special care to underline “Your,” because your best is “not static, it’s ever-changing,” she said.

This is Ms. Quinter’s first year teaching Algebra 1 and Honors Geometry at La Salle, two subjects which she loves teaching, she said.

Ms. Quinter’s journey to mathematics began in courtrooms, not classrooms. After studying international affairs at The George Washington University, she specialized in family law at Georgetown Law School, drawn by the possibility of being able to help kids in need. But after about a year, the emotional toll proved a bit too heavy, leading her to finance law for over ten years. 

Meeting her husband at Georgetown Law brought her from the East Coast to Portland, where she stayed home after her daughter was born. When her son started preschool, watching both children tackle elementary math sparked an interest. 

And just like that, Portland State University’s master’s program in secondary math education became her next chapter. 

Law school, it turned out, had been preparing her for something beyond legal practice. 

“I think I needed to go to law school to gain confidence,” Ms. Quinter said. “I don’t think I realized it at the time, but I think what I was looking for was finding myself and finding my confidence.”

That life lesson became central to how she approaches students struggling with math subjects.

“There’s something about doing something that’s really, really hard, and succeeding at it,” Ms. Quinter said. “I’ve said that a lot to students that I teach. If I put challenges out for you, and then I support you, and you achieve it, you grow, and you feel more confident.”

Ms. Quinter’s classroom philosophy prioritizes willingness over ability. Having started babysitting at a young age, she loves working with adolescents and believes math can offer multiple pathways to success.

“I do think the thing that I value most in students … is show[ing] up with a willingness to learn,” Ms. Quinter said. “I genuinely believe that we can all do as well as we want in math, as long as we’re willing to show up and work.”

After teaching two years each at Franciscan Montessori Earth School (FMES) and Bridges Middle School, several factors drew her to La Salle: the number of former FMES students, her connection with mentor and La Salle math teacher Ms. Kathleen Jahn, and her son’s positive summer camp experiences. 

But the interview clinched her decision.

“When I came for the interview … I just really liked the administrative team,” she said, saying she felt like “I could be my genuine self, and that would be accepted and successful here.” 

Creating that safe environment matters deeply to Ms. Quinter, who believes authenticity in teaching starts with feeling accepted herself. 

“When I feel safe in a place, and I feel like my genuine, authentic self is accepted, then I can be that in the classroom for the students,” Ms. Quinter said.

Beyond the classroom, Ms. Quinter applies the same embrace-the-challenge mentality. Outside of school, family vacations often involve ambitious backpacking through steep terrain, hiking cliffsides, or sleeping under the stars. The family has conquered about half of America’s 63 National Parks, with Big Bend,Texas being their latest adventure.

These expeditions embody one of her core beliefs about growth through difficulty.

“It’s just that idea of, when you do hard things, you feel better,” she said. “You feel like you’ve grown, and you feel like you’ve challenged yourself.”

Whether solving for X or scaling mountains, Ms. Quinter’s message remains the same. 

“My hope is that they can then translate this into other parts of their life,” Ms. Quinter said. “Just because something is hard or challenging doesn’t mean you can’t be successful.”

Correction: Wednesday, September 10, 2025

A previous version of the article used the incorrect honorific for Mr. Milam.