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.