As Richard Hatch once stated, “I love inspiring people and helping them to reach their potential.” This quote holds true for Ms. Olivieri, who has a passion for helping people. Throughout our interview, she clearly expressed how much inspiring people means to her.

When asked why she chose to be a Spanish teacher, she said that she wanted to be able to speak it more and help others understand a new language. Before Ms. Olivieri was a teacher, however, she was a police officer and a 911 operator, therefore she could help those in need. As a police officer, she would help those who didn’t speak English, however, she only got to use the language that she was so devoted to studying in college about once a week, so she decided to help others in a new way. Thus, she turned to teaching.

Throughout high school, Ms. Olivieri was a fantastic dancer, which led her to also teach dance on top of teaching Spanish. She taught cultural dance classes, such as Irish Step dancing, and other fun classes, such as tap. Ms. Olivieri says that one skill that she’d like to regain is her flexibility from her dancing years, and she’d especially like to relearn how to do a back handspring. She also says that her all-time favorite sport to do is dance, but her favorite sport to watch is hockey.

During this past year when Ms. Olivieri wasn’t able to dance, she turned to the cello. She became a dedicated cellist when she could no longer use her feet for dance, so decided to use her hands and learn an instrument. Amazingly, she started as a beginner in February of 2016, and now she’s a NYSSMA level 3!

Some small things that make this incredible woman happy are getting texts from her friends and finding letters from her mom in her mailbox when she gets home. She also loves books, such as The Great Gatsby, and movies, such as Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz.

In conclusion, Ms. Olivieri has only been part of the Babylon school community for a small amount of time, yet she has already made an impact and has become family here!