An exciting development for Heritage this year includes the introduction of a new teacher. Ronnie Natola graduated from a high school in Cleveland, Ohio. After high school, he says that he went to and graduated from Lee University. Mr. Natola says, “The main reason I got into education was because my wife and I needed money, and I decided to take a job watching two autistic boys. I would watch them for hours upon hours upon hours. It kind of gave me a passion for special education. After that, I went to go get my master’s degree in special education.” As a student, Mr. Natola says that he struggled a lot because the teaching he received was more like a lecture and, “less relational.” Later on, he says he had a teacher who helped him to look at things a different way. He explains that Heritage is different from other schools because he feels like “our leadership at this school leads by example instead of just saying what should be done.” Mr. Natola wants to help students have a safe space where they can be vulnerable. During his career, he has also been coaching baseball. In fact, he says that a lot of people call him coach because he has been coaching for around 15 years. He also coaches baseball here, as an assistant for Coach Dinger. Mr. Natola says that he loves being here at Heritage because it has such a great community, he says, “I think that everybody is super nice to each other.” He goes on to mention his two sons, whom he wants to attend Heritage. He says, “I don’t just want my kids to go there, I want them to be in the community.” Mr. Natola is excited to be a part of the Heritage family, and is looking forward to his bright future here.
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Heritage’s New Teachers: Coach Natola is Here to Stay
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About the Contributors
Alyx Quist, Newspaper Editor
Alyx Quist is the editor of Heritage High School’s newspaper, The General Journal. As a freshman, they joined Journalism unaware of how vital it would become in their school life. As a senior, they are in their fourth—and final—semester of Journalism. In college, Alyx plans to pursue Journalism as a major, and they hope to minor in political science. Journalism is something that they want to have in their life forever, so it’s only logical that they intend to pursue it as a career. Alyx is involved in quite a few programs and clubs offered at Heritage High School. They are in the National English Honor Society, Tea Club, Beta Club, Astronomy Club, and Journalism. Since reading Legend by Marie Lu in middle school, Alyx has been an avid reader. In fact, it is one of the only hobbies that they have, aside from journalism and photography. At home, their family currently has custody of Alyx’s wonderful, sweet, and smart nephew. Their nephew is newly 2-years-old, and his name is Israel, but he usually gets called Izzy. Izzy’s favorite thing in the world is Baby Shark, and as such, Alyx’s life has been invaded by the animated shark family.
Briley Simpson, Yearbook Editor
Briley Simpson is entering her fourth year as a staff member of the HHS General Journal. She enjoys reading all the articles that get published and loves coming up with new ideas of things to cover. As this is her senior year, she is excited to once again help with the yearbook “The Legacy.” She and staff member Allie Boyd are Co-Editors of the book. Briley also occupies her time by participating in clubs such as the Musical Theatre Tech team, BETA, SGA, NHS, NEHS, and the Lady Generals Soccer Team. When Briley is not thinking about school, she turns to her bookshelf: a place where she feels the most comfort. Reading is one of her most enthralling pastimes. While she dives into a new story, she also likes to listen to music. Taylor Alison Swift is, of course, her #1 artist on Spotify and has been for the past five years. All in all, Briley is both overcome with sadness and optimism as she enters her final year of High School. She hopes that the work she accomplishes in Journalism will in fact leave a legacy!