As we get ready to kick off the 2024-2025 school year at Wolf, in addition to welcoming new students and staff, we are also celebrating new roles and growth at Wolf! Since joining Wolf full-time in 2015, Becca Olivo has grown from an Occupational Therapist in the classroom to now our OT Supervisor & Technology Coach. Read more about Becca in this month’s We Are Wolf!
1. Can you tell us a bit about your background before coming to Wolf?
Wolf was actually my first job after I finished grad school at the University of New Hampshire! After passing my boards, I applied to a few different jobs. I always knew I wanted to work in pediatrics, but I initially wasn’t sure if the school setting would be for me. I came across an opening at Wolf to cover a maternity leave position for the end of the 2014-2015 school year. I decided that even though I didn’t think I wanted to work in schools forever, I could do anything for 10 weeks and felt it would be a great experience. Well, I absolutely LOVED my time at Wolf working in what is now Room 4, and got hooked on working in the school setting. After the school year ended, I worked various restaurant jobs while applying for multiple OT positions, still bummed that my time at Wolf had ended. However, fate stepped in again, and two weeks before the 2015-2016 school year began, Anna called to share the news that a full-time position had opened up and asked if I was still available. I immediately accepted…and the rest is history!
2. What motivated you to want to work in a school setting with Complex Learners?
As previously mentioned, and despite being raised by a family of educators, I didn’t anticipate working in schools or with Complex Learners. However, I am truly a kid at heart and love to have fun, play games, move my body, and get messy, so I felt a natural pull towards pediatrics. Throughout high school and college, I volunteered and worked at many organizations for children and adults with and without special needs, including summer camps, babysitting, Best Buddies, traumatic brain injury day programs, and more. One young boy who attended a gymnastics camp that I worked at in high school particularly drew me into occupational therapy. Each day at the camp, he had an adult with him helping to facilitate his participation with the group throughout each activity. I became curious about this person who seemed to have a “magic touch” – turns out she was an occupational therapist! I knew then that I wanted to pursue a career in occupational therapy working with and improving the lives of amazing, hilarious, intelligent, and creative children, also known as Complex Learners.
3. You recently became Wolf’s technology coach, can you share a bit about this position and why you think Assitive Technology is so important when it comes to Complex Learners?
Becoming the technology coach has been such a fun addition to my roles at Wolf. I have always loved technology and became particularly interested in technology and assistive technology as tools for learning while working in Wolf’s middle school classrooms. In my first few years at Wolf, often as the youngest member of my teams, I was looked at as the “go-to” for all things technology. I helped students (and my team members) learn about Google Docs, Drive, writing emails, surfing the web, and more. The more I learned about the benefits of infusing education with technology, the more I shared with my teammates and students. I watched previously unengaged students participate in social studies lessons creating fake Facebook profiles for figures from the Revolutionary War, and helped self-proclaimed “old school” teachers project outline-style notes with images and videos on the board while students copied them down from their desks. Technology and assistive technology can be amazing assets to Complex Learners, and I am beyond excited to be able to continue to learn more and share that knowledge with our Wolf School community.
4. This year, you’re beginning your new position as Occupational Therapy Supervisor, what are you most excited about this new role?
Everything! We have an amazing group of talented, dedicated, and knowledgeable occupational therapists at Wolf, and I am thrilled to be working with each of them in this role. I am most excited to uncover each therapist’s specific interests and areas of expertise in order to enhance our OT department as a whole, and in turn, improve the outcomes of all of our students. I am also looking forward to being a part of all classroom teams in order to share the tips and tricks I have learned throughout my career at Wolf, and get to know all students and colleagues even more. I think this is going to be a fantastic year filled with lots of collaboration, growth, and teamwork!
5. What is your favorite book?
Wow, that’s a very hard question! A few years ago, I decided to get back into reading (after a long hiatus stemming from ALL the reading required in college) and have since set goals to read more and more books every year. In doing so I have compiled a very lengthy “favorite books” list. My current top favorites are “It Ends With Us” by Colleen Hoover (yes I saw and enjoyed the movie, but the book is always better!), “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus (the show was also great, but again, the book was better!), and the entire Janet Evanovich “One For the Money” series!
Becca, we are so lucky to have your energy, talent, insight, and creativity at Wolf! You are a true gem at Wolf and we can’t wait to see what this year brings! To learn more about other Wolf Staff, read some of our past We Are Wolf interviews!