Spotlight 4 Success
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Spotlight 4 Success
Never Stop Learning
What happens when a teacher returns to their own high school as an educator? Meet Janie Olivarri, who transformed from Pleasanton High School graduate to dedicated instructor with 26 years of experience in the same hallways where she once studied.
Website: Spotlight 4 Success
Welcome to Spotlight for Success by American Book Company. I am Devin Pintosi, your host. We are here in sunny San Antonio, texas, at the ASCD ISTE Conference 2025, and we are so happy today to have our special guest, janie Olivari. She is here from Pleasanton ISD at Pleasanton High School in Pleasanton, texas. Thank you for joining us today, janie.
Speaker 2:It's my pleasure to be here, thank you.
Speaker 1:Wonderful. Can you tell us a bit about what brings you here to ASCD, isd?
Speaker 2:So anytime a teacher gets a chance to go to a conference, they jump right on in, and especially ISTE. It's one of the biggest conferences. It has a lot of beneficial technology, software, teaching strategies for teachers, and so that's why I'm here today and also teachers get a free day pass at the expo. Oh, that is so awesome, so anything free is also, you know, something that I'm going to jump at.
Speaker 1:Free day pass? Absolutely yeah, why not? It's great. It's right here in your backyard, that's right. So can you tell me a bit about your career as an educator in Pleasanton High School?
Speaker 2:So I'll be starting my 26th year at Pleasanton High School. I'm actually a graduate of Pleasanton High School. I'm actually a graduate of Pleasanton High School, so it's fun to go back and teach at the school that I graduated from. So I've seen it change, you know, over the years and evolve into really a school that values the students that attend. We have great programs of study for our students. I teach AV classes, which includes video editing, sound editing, graphic design, and so being on this podcast here is right up my alley. We started a podcast about five years ago. It's been on a two-year hiatus because we can't find a podcasting host, but I saw you all set up here and so I wanted to see you know what this technology was about here that you are using.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, certainly we. We appreciate that. You know we're we're growing and learning as well as we go through this process of doing these podcasts, and it's just so much fun and so rewarding to be able to learn from people like yourself that are also learning, and podcasting is so new for a lot of people still today.
Speaker 3:Yeah, Thank you for watching Spotlight for Success. I am Devin Pintosi, chief Operating Officer of American Book Company. We are located here in our headquarters in Woodstock, georgia. All of our materials are printed in USA. We have course books, ebooks and online testing in grades K through 12 in mathematics, ela, science and social studies. These materials are all designed to help students achieve higher scores on their state-specific high-stakes assessments. We guarantee score improvement. You can get free samples of our materials either in print or in electronic formats at abck12.com. We look forward to hearing from you.
Speaker 1:Can you tell me a bit about what you're hoping to get out of your ASCD ISTE experience that you're going to take back to Pleasanton High School?
Speaker 2:So, as a technology teacher, every year we get new courses that we have to teach, some courses we teach year after year, but this year I'll be teaching practicum and marketing, and so I'm looking for curriculum with entrepreneurship, things that lend itself to the marketing pathway, I guess you could say. And so I just want to be able to teach this class in a way that's going to be fun for the kids, and so I'm looking for professionals in that area oh, that's great. I'm looking for professionals in that area, oh, that's great. And then, like I said, this too, I mean seeing the equipment and new technologies that we can bring into our schools as well, into our AV pathway oh, that is so awesome.
Speaker 1:Can you tell me why you got into teaching? You definitely made this your vocation.
Speaker 2:Yes. Well, when I graduated college, I did think I just wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. You know, I had just graduated and I was going to have my first child and that first year that I stayed home I got really bored. I was like I feel like there's so much more that I could be doing in our world. And then my husband was in education. He was like you should go to the alternative certification pathway, you know program, and become a teacher that way. And so I did, and that's how I became a teacher.
Speaker 2:I got bored at being at home there you go, and so there happened to be a business position opened at my high school, which was my degree area, and so it just, it just all fell into place the way I was supposed to and that is so great.
Speaker 1:Do you have a special memory you can share of, maybe an interaction with the class or student where you're like, wow, this is why I got into teaching?
Speaker 2:Well, I also do a business club called Business Professionals of America, and really that is my baby, that is what makes my teaching profession rewarding. I mean, yes, seeing the kids every year, meeting new kids, meeting new families, but kids that want to go into the business field, the technology field. They have goals, they have aspirations. We compete regional, state and national level, and so that's our goal every year is to compete and to win, and so that's what I really love about my job is doing the business club and working with kids that are business-minded and have those types of aspirations.
Speaker 1:That is wonderful. Being able to do those clubs that are taking kids to that next level, yes, and you being a part of that, that's great. That's got to be so rewarding.
Speaker 2:Yes, it is.
Speaker 1:That's great. So let me ask you do you have a message you'd like to share with the ASCD ISTE community?
Speaker 2:Every day is a time to learn. As teachers, we know we never stop learning, and so technology changes so fast, software changes so fast, even teaching strategies change so fast. So always be learning. The best type of teacher is a teacher that can also be a student. That's awesome. Never stop learning.
Speaker 1:Never stop learning. Absolutely, janie Olivari. It's a pleasure having you on today. Thank you so much. I hope you have a great experience here at ASCD. Asd Again, she joins us from Pleasanton ISD, Pleasanton, Texas. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you.