Having a special impact
A tough school year taught us to appreciate teachers like Oliva
Orlando’s public schools let out this week. There was no final bell or rush to the exits, but you might have heard a big sigh of relief.
It came from teachers, many of whom will remember the 2019-20 school year as the most demanding they ever faced.
“I like being in school with the kids,” Angel Oliva said. “I missed being in school with the kids.”
He’s an exceptional education teacher at Boone High School and, like teachers across the nation, he couldn’t be in school with the kids. They left for spring break and coronavirus never let them return.
Within a couple of weeks, everybody became more familiar with the term “distance learning.”
Talk about learning the hard way for students, parents and teachers. Everybody had hair-pulling moments, but few had the same challenges that confronted Oliva.
Exceptional education students have a variety of developmental issues, ranging from autism to cerebral palsy to intellectual disabilities.
Most still manage to attend regular classes and can excel in them. Oliva’s students need more individualized care.
If you’re guessing special education takes a special kind of teacher, you’re right.
“What I admire about Mr. Oliva, and so many of my staff members at Boone High School, is his passion for our students,” Principal Dusty Johns said. “He knows how much they are counting on us during these difficult times, and it drives him to give so selflessly.”
Where does that kind of drive come from?
Oliva thinks back more than a half century, and the images are still clear.
He remembers Mr. Alter, Mr. Good and Coach Goins.
The names mean nothing to you or me, but we all can probably recall a teacher who helped shape our lives.
Oliva’s needed more shaping than most. His parents fled Fidel Castro’s Cuba in 1965. They settled in New Jersey, a totally alien culture to 7-year-old Angel. School teachers took him under their wings.
“They went way beyond what they had to do,” Oliva said. “I was just very impacted by it, the caring they had for students.”
Oliva joined the Army after graduating from high school. He served for six years, then moved to Orlando and took education courses at Valencia College.
He got a job with Developmental Disability Services, an organization with a variety of programs for people with disabilities.
He’d always been drawn to teaching. Working at DDS, he found his ideal students.
“They’re just kids looking for somebody to care for them and love them like everybody else,” Oliva said. “That pulled me in and got me.”
He’s been at Boone for eight years. Unlike students who move from class to class, Oliva’s stay with him all day.
Actually, most stay with him