Donna Casella was born on March 30, 1953. She grew up in a very fine area in Bronx, New York. Donna is Italian American, along with her mother, father, and older brother. Her family was very close while she was growing up, having many family events.
Her Italian American community neighbored Irish American, African American, and Jewish families, whose children she played with and went to school with while growing up. She originally attended a public school and she then went to an all girls’ private Catholic school for her grammar and high school years. She moved away from New York when she attended graduate school in Michigan and began applying for jobs out west because they seemed more attractive. She stated that she needed a change from the city life.
Donna has a love for traveling and does it every chance she has. She suggests that her care for traveling might have begun because of the ethnic sites, sounds and smells, language and culture throughout her world while growing up. Throughout her teaching career she has spent a number of years teaching and researching all over the world in places like Turkey, Japan, Africa, France, and the United Kingdom.
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Group Members Joan Austin Gruter, Kalin Riesgraf, Kera Trefethren, Samantha Wahlin
