May 08, 2025
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Cailla Swanson finds her life’s passion in teaching special ed

Swanson: ‘The whole goal of inclusion is everybody is seen as an individual’

By Brenda Schory
Cailla Swanson is a learning behavior specialist at Geneva High School.

Cailla Swanson is a learning behavior specialist at Geneva High School. (Sandy Bressner)

Like many teens, when Cailla Swanson was a sophomore at St. Charles North High School, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life.

Through mutual friends, she connected with a special ed teacher, Colleen Backer.

“She encouraged me to come help and be a student-teaching assistant in her class,” Swanson said. “I chose to give it a shot and the rest is history. I never looked back. I didn’t know it then, but it changed my life for the better. ... It definitely paved the way for me to find a career I’m truly passionate about.”

Swanson is in her third year of teaching special education at Geneva High School. She co-teaches Applied Foods, which teaches independence in the kitchen through functional skill sets.

She also teaches the Vocational Exploration or VocEx class, which prepares students for employment through practical applications in job-like settings.

Cailla Swanson, a learning behavior specialist at Geneva High School, works with student Ian Thomson during a cooking class.

Cailla Swanson, a learning behavior specialist at Geneva High School, works with student Ian Thomson during a cooking class. (Sandy Bressner)

“I decided to become a teacher because I wanted to provide every student with the opportunity to have equitable life experiences,” Swanson said. “That’s my goal – to provide every student with equitable opportunities whether they have a disability or not. To be their teacher and watch their growth. ... It’s a privilege to be a special ed teacher.”

At St. Charles North, Swanson played basketball and was a student leader in Team Polaris, a social club for students with and without disabilities.

At Geneva High School, Swanson coaches girls basketball and the Geneva Unified Vikings Special Olympics basketball team.

Swanson credited the staff and administration for its support in creating the unified basketball team.

Cailla Swanson (far right), a learning behavior specialist at Geneva High School, also works as an assistant coach with the school’s girls varsity basketball team.

Cailla Swanson (far right), a learning behavior specialist at Geneva High School, also works as an assistant coach with the school’s girls varsity basketball team. (Sandy Bressner)

“The whole goal of inclusion is everybody is seen as an individual,” Swanson said. “That is one of the things I think is cool about special ed: Every single person is unique. And each student has their unique abilities.”

Principal Tom Rogers praised Swanson’s work in the classroom and the Unified Vikings team in particular.

“She is phenomenal in everything that she does,” Rogers said. “She is devoted to all of it.”

While she won’t take credit for it, Rogers said Swanson was the spark for the Geneva Unified Vikings Special Olympics basketball team.

“It was 100% her idea,” Rogers said. “She took it and ran with it and it’s a huge success in its first year. ... It benefited lots and lots of people here at GHS. It was a wonderful thing to see come to fruition.”

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