This month’s Featured Teacher, Ms. Olga Velez, comes from our location on Fredericksburg Road.
Olga Velez is a teacher who never expected she’d find her true passion in teaching. Ms. Olga was attending school for graphic design, and during her studies she applied for a position at a preschool. It only took her a short time to realize that she was going to school for the wrong thing. It was obvious that her true calling was right in front of her – teaching children.
Ms. Olga started at Country Home over 3 years ago. Since she has been a part of our team, she has impressed not only her co-workers, but also the administration as she quickly blossomed into an amazing Lead Teacher. She was a great example to and leader for her peers as her school was working towards attaining Texas Rising Star accreditation. Her professionalism is outstanding, but her desire to provide her classes with fun and imaginative education is what reall makes Ms. Olga shine.
She teaches her children through real world experiences. She blends these real world experiences with age appropriate developmental skills and education to help them learn skills in a way that will be fun and memorable. A wonderful example is the annual lemonade stand she runs with her 4-year-old class. She hands coins made out of construction paper to the different classes at Country Home, and, during their outside time, different classes come and “purchase” lemonade from her students. Her 4-year-olds have learned how to collect a profit, count money, serve customers, be effective business people, and many other life lessons! Ms. Olga’s imaginative lessons and hands-on approach is one important reason we chose to recognize her as this month’s Featured Teacher.
Our Fredricksburg Road Director, Shana Shaner, considered several qualities while selecting her Featured Teacher, but it really boiled down to two things: which person best exemplifies the quality of character and professionalism we look for in our Country Home teachers, and which teacher works best within our curriculum. In Shana’s eyes, Ms. Olga stands out and shines in both of these categories. She loves the children as if they were her own, and she adds so much to our curriculum. She is definitely the total package!!
“This job is never boring,” said Ms. Olga. She loves that every day brings a different challenge and that there is such a variety of activities like Spanish, dance, and even the field trips! She loves being active and on the go, and she’s always looking for new activities she can use to reinforce the skills in our curriculum. She explains that, “you have to love what you are doing, or you are not happy.” Obviously, since Ms. Olga has become a teacher she has found what she loves doing, and we can only hope that every child has a teacher that is as passionate as Ms. Olga!!
