Beatrice Oliveti had come to the Albio Sires School on March 31 as part of the West New York program for Read Across America when the young boy came up to her. He wore dark glasses and carried a cane used by those with sight impairments, and Oliveti knew she could help.
Blind since birth, Oliveti had gone through many of the things this boy was going through. She knew that a few words of encouragement might help him. Born and raised in West New York, she worked her way through the local school system, in the mainstream, not as a special needs student.
This is something she is very proud of, being able to stand on her own two feet.
“I kept it simple with him,” she said. “I told him how I had managed to get through school and he would be able to as well.”
About to turn 37, Oliveti was not sheltered from reality while growing up.
“I attended all mainstream classes in elementary school as well as high school,” she said.
Blind from birth, she managed to graduate from School No. 1 and later Memorial High School and also attended Ramapo College.
Oliveti has been an employee in West New York municipal government since 2002, first in the Department of Public Works, currently as a secretary/receptionist for the town’s Planning Department.
Has deep roots in West New York
Oliveti came to the Albio Sires School on March 31 to join Mayor Roque in reading to kindergarten students from Miss Ortega’s class. Roque has been part of the reading program since he took office four years ago, but for Oliveti, this was relatively new.
“Miss B reads with her fingers,” Mayor Roque told the room full of kids, who sat on a carpet in front of both Oliveti and Roque in anticipation of hearing them recite a classic story by Dr. Seuss.
While Roque read from the published edition of Dr. Seuss’ “One Fish, Two fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” Oliveti read from an edition she had taken out of the Library for the Blind in Trenton for the occasion.
“I take a lot of books out of there,” she said. “I love to read.”
Dr. Seuss is a challenge even for those whose eyesight is not impaired, filled with puns and made-up words. Oliveti managed to keep up with Roque as the two took turns reading, with Roque holding up pages of his book for the kids to look at.
“Miss B reads with her fingers.” – Mayor Felix Roque
____________
Roque said he has been encouraging Oliveti to get out into the community.
“When I became mayor, I found her in a small office in Town Hall,” he said. “I tried to get her to get out into the community.”
Oliveti is hardly helpless, living in an apartment of her own.
‘I can do things even if I am disabled’
“My mother lives in the same building, but I have my own apartment,” she said, noting that what she wants most is to be accepted as a competent person. “The reason I like Mayor Roque so much is because he looks past my blindness and can see what I am capable of as a person.”
She said Roque is the third mayor she has worked for, and someone who has responded to her extremely positively.
“He recognizes what I am capable of,” she said.
A member of the National Association of the Blind, Oliveti has become a role model for people with disabilities.
“She is blind and she still manages to live and work,” Roque said.
The kids in the kindergarten class took turns feeling the raised Braille of her book, all clearly amazed at her ability to read from it.
“It’s something you can learn if you work hard,” Roque said. “Miss B studied hard to learn it. She has magic fingers.”
Oliveti’s father was Commissioner Joseph P. Oliveti. She was already working for West New York when Roque started.
Besides being impressed with Oliveti, many of the kids were also impressed with Roque, especially in his role as a medical doctor. When asked how many of them wanted to be doctors when they grew up, nearly all of the kids raised their hands. When asked how many wanted to be mayor, most of those hands went down.
Roque only laughed.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.