Irma Daniels retires after 44 years at Boca Ciega High

BY JOYCE NANETTE JOHNSON, Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG – Irma Daniels has a quiet grace and a shy, warm smile that spreads into a wide grin as she reminisces and celebrates her retirement from The Boca Ciega High School after 44 years of service.

Daniels wore many hats during the past four decades including being a teacher’s assistant for the Foreign Language Department, clerk to the Assistant Dean of Boys, data prep clerk and data management technician.

She will forever be a part of the living history of that institution and has witnessed firsthand the many changes that have occurred throughout the years.

A single mother to two children, Dala and David, Daniels began her career at Boca Ciega in 1973. The principal at that time was Hugh B. Kriever.  Since her tenure at the school, she has served alongside six principals and is retiring while Michael Vigue is the current principal.

“Irma Daniels spent a better portion of her adult life at The Boca Ciega High School…,” said Principal Vigue.  “Students, staff and visitors have been greeted with her affable personality for over 43 years.  Her kind and gentle nature has been a pleasure with which to work.  We have been most fortunate to have had her as part of the ‘pirate’ family and wish her felicitations on her retirement from a long and successful career.”

Being a fixture through the hallways and classroom, Daniels has observed many changes that reflect both positively and negatively concerning the students, curriculum and teachers.

“The dress code is too loose now, and back then the kids were more polite,” she stated. “Drug use has increased to a certain level.”

She has also stressed that parental interaction has improved greatly over the last five years, teachers are more dedicated and that there are more innovative and alternative learning methods and acceleration programs.

“A big change education wise,” she stated.”

She pointed to the dual enrollment and collegiate programs that help students obtain college credits and in some cases, they can graduate with not only a high school diploma but also an associate’s degree.

“Travel, travel, travel,” she laughingly described her future plans. After seeing the world, she’d like to do some mentoring and volunteering at a school or hospital.

“I will miss the routine and my colleagues,” Daniels said, noting that Mrs. Rampersaud and Mrs. Davis have been some of her “closest colleagues and comrades.”

She feels that her time at the school was also a learning experience for she learned all about the different cultures of the kids and the teachers.

“I thank God for being my navigator and provider and for keeping me proficient through the many years of change at Boca Ciega High School.”