Lois LaGalle, who taught alongside Olga Quiroga at Inter-American Elementary Magnet School in Lakeview, said she also made a mark on her colleagues. “She made you feel confident that anything was possible the moment you walked through that door.” “They saw themselves in her, and that’s all she really strived for her students, Latino students in particular, to understand their background, have pride in their culture and look straight ahead to their future. “She was their role model,” Genesis Quiroga said of her mother’s students. The student recalled other memories of her favorite teacher as tears streamed down her cheeks. No matter where Olga Quiroga taught, she loved her students like they were her own children, according to a Sun-Times obituary.Ĭredit: Logan Square Neighborhood Association/Facebook Longtime CPS teacher Olga Quiroga died from COVID-19 last year.Īt Thursday’s event, a former Funston student said Olga Quiroga once accompanied her to a school function in place of her mother, saying, “For the day, I’ll be your mom, and you’ll be my daughter.” “She poured her heart into teaching because she knew that this was her chance to make a big difference,” Genesis Quiroga said. For 30 years, she taught at schools in lower-income neighborhoods, always putting her students first, her family and friends said. Quiroga Way.”Īt the time of Olga Quiroga’s death, she was working as a first-grade bilingual teacher at Funston, but her CPS career stretches back. Central Park Ave., to honor the beloved educator with a street sign: “Olga L.
Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) and Roberto Maldonado (26th) this week at the Logan Square school, 2010 N. Genesis Quiroga and other family members and friends joined Funston administrators and students and Alds. The Funston Elementary School teacher died from COVID-19 in October 2020, becoming the first CPS teacher to die from the disease. LOGAN SQUARE - As a longtime Chicago Public Schools teacher, Olga Quiroga was a champion of immigrant students and made them feel at home in the classroom, said her daughter, Genesis.