"Need another one? No band aids? Just do the second one."
If you're a student in Rick Angulo's EKG Technicians class or Medical Assistants class, you might not suspect this soft-spoken teacher is a former Marine!
"While I was in the Marine Corps, I started to do some training with medical first responders, first aid, things like that. Really started liking it. So, after talking to some of our Corpsmen that were in the Navy, they gave me some good advice on career goals."
But Mr. Angulo, or "Mr. A" as his students call him, is more than a teacher, and he's a good one. He requires all his students to do community service and get used to helping others, outside the doctors' office.
"Instead of waiting the 8 months to finish their program and start helping people, I want to get them out there as soon as possible and start showing that they can make a difference immediately."
Frank Williams is halfway through Mr. A's 8-month class. And proud to be on the honor roll.
"We met Mr. A. He's a fantastic teacher. And he's been helping us out for anything we need. We go to him and he'll just clear it up for us until we get it."
Frank's wife Yvonne is also in the class. She gets very emotional when talking about how Mr. A has changed the course of her life.
"He makes it so I don't give up. And I maintain honor roll and I do everything else I need to do, me and my husband. We really strive to do excellent and really try to stay on a positive path. And he makes that possible."
"Wooo hooo!!"
So we salute this former Marine. He fights for his students now, and he's our Educator of the Week.
And "Mr. A" also volunteers at the Poverello House on his own time. He credits his father with giving him the drive to succeed.
TXT 24
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