Departing Faculty - Profe Almonte Oritz
Riverdale Review: Okay, what is your role in the Riverdale community?
Ms. Jannely Almonte Ortiz: My most current role right now and always has been a Spanish teacher. So that’s been my consistent role and that’s my favorite role. And I have also in the past couple of years worked for admissions and that’s been a lot of fun. That injects some novelty in my experience since I’ve been here 10 years. I also, so before that, then I was a class dean, and that was a lot of fun, for the class of 2023. Oh, I also missed one. So like in the past couple of years teaching, I said teaching, admissions and then lesser commitment but also fun. Internship program was fun. Yeah, so then there was Dean for four years and obviously that was very full time, right, along with teaching. And yeah, then before that it was teaching, a ninth grade advisor, and a faculty mentor.
RR: So that leads me into my next question, which is how long you’ve been at Riverdale, but I think you answered that.
JAO: Yeah, for 10 years. 10 solid years.
RR: What is a moment you will never forget from your years at Riverdale?
JAO: There are a lot of them. Ok, I’ll talk about one with students and one with faculty. With students, it was really fun to be on trips with the class of 2023. Those were the highlights. I mean, so the orientation trip, really the first time seeing them interact, like watching them from the outside and knowing they’re gonna be okay, but just seeing their hesitation. Also the DC trip was a lot of fun, just seeing how much they matured and how well they behave. They really made me proud. And then in terms of faculty, we’ve done some camping trips as faculty members. And that’s been a highlight.
RR: What is your favorite class that you’ve taught and why?
JAO: Oh my gosh. I swear like anytime… Okay, so every year, Profe Keller, right, she’s the head of the language department, she asks, now what’s been your favorite class? She asks, what are you thinking about teaching, right? And we try to come to an agreement. And every year I’m like, oh, what I taught this year has been my favorite. So every year, whatever I’m teaching is my favorite. So it’s really hard to choose, but I’ll point to Spanish III and Spanish IV. So Spanish III, I really enjoy it because it’s centered on New York City and that’s also part of my identity. I grew up here. And also talking about Spanish-speaking communities. Again, part of my identity. So it’s been very personal, right? And sharing that with students. Spanish IV, I just like it because I feel like, wow, it’s the first time that students are connecting a lot of what they’re learning in other classes here as well or they’re seeing the connections. And I think that’s a lot of fun to be there in those moments of discovery.
RR: Do you have any funny stories that occurred at Riverdale that you would like to share?
JAO: Maybe not, this isn’t funny, just like moments that stick out in my head. They’re in projects, so for example Spanish III, when we did the Piña project, redesigning a company. People really, in the past in different moments have gone all out, like dressing up and baking and they really like fully committed to it. So it was just, it really left an impression on me. Those are like the memories that stick out in the classroom.
RR: And is there anything you will not miss about Riverdale?
JAO: Well, first I’ll say what I’ll definitely miss. And students might disagree, but hey, is my little blurb in the newspaper. The food, I really love the food. The variety, they really try to touch on different cultures, and especially when they do the Latino food, like the pork chops, the chuletas. I’m like right on, it tastes just like home. So I’m really gonna miss the food, because I’ve tasted other schools’ food. It’s different, let’s put it that way. So not miss. Let’s see. Maybe because I’m going to a boarding school environment, everything’s more spread out. Not just physically, but even the schedule. So right now, it’s a day school schedule. And no fault of Riverdale, but everything’s crammed. It’s between 8:25 and 3:30. So I feel like everything’s like back to back, even meetings with students, everything, right? But at a boarding school environment centered on campus all the time, you can meet the teachers at night. There’s not as much of a rush to have everything in the daytime. yeah, I’m not going to miss necessarily the cramed schedule. One more thing: looking for parking. Yeah, I’m definitely not gonna miss that.
RR: Okay, and then the next question is what will you be doing next?
JAO: Yeah, so everyone who knows me knows that I have this boarding school environment where I attended one, and my students attend, and blah blah blah, and I used to teach at one. So I like that model. I like the model where you get to see students in different light all the time. It’s easy to see your sports competition, students in the play, because everything is there. So yeah, so I’m gonna be teaching and then also academic advising and then the following year college counseling.
RR: And finally, do you have any words of wisdom you’d like to leave the RCS community with?
JAO: Words of wisdom, that sounds so cliche. I think, and this goes really with any type of community, right, that always ask, right, it’s easy to complain, right? Like, oh, we don’t have this, or this doesn’t make sense, or it’s easy to do that. I’ve learned, and I’m still working on it, but I’ve learned to ask myself: what am I doing to help that? So instead of complaining, just ask yourself how can you help.
