Jefferson High School teacher encourages students to embrace imperfection

Published 4:00 am Thursday, February 26, 2026

Olivia “Olive” Altieri is early in her teaching career, but has the passion of a longtime educator.

In her third year at Jefferson High School, where she teaches biology and human anatomy, Altieri never anticipated becoming a teacher.

“ I think people meet me and find out I teach high school, and they think I’m crazy,” Altieri said. “I have so much more faith in young people after working at the high school level.”

Up until the end of high school, Altieri never even planned to go to college.

She started at the University of California, Santa Cruz, transferred to College of the Canyons, and eventually moved to the Pacific Northwest. In Portland, she attended Portland Community College before finishing her bachelor’s degree at Portland State University.

Altieri maintained jobs in the service industry, volunteered at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, and completed her senior capstone project at a learning farm.

“That’s when I realized I love to work with people,” Altieri said. “ I didn’t really know what I wanted to do for a minute, and then it kind of just clicked that what I really enjoyed about biology and about science was being able to talk to other people about it and being able to experience it with other people.”

She obtained her master’s degree from Western Governors University during the pandemic. Then she completed her student teaching at Gresham High School and landed a job at Jefferson High School just a couple of weeks before the school year began.

Growing up in the desert, Altieri’s fascination with science started at a young age. She lived for the nature and wildlife in her hometown, casually catching lizards on any given day.

It’s the same feeling of fascination she loves sharing with her students. Allowing them to explore the things they’re interested in is what she enjoys most about teaching.

“One of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher is because I think when you zoom in on all the little things around us, the world is so interesting and it’s kind of impossible to be bored,” Altieri said.

Outside of teaching, she helps run On Track OHSU, which aims to increase the representation of marginalized groups in STEM and offer more accessible opportunities to experience the medical field.

Last year, the group visited the cadaver lab and viewed a human cadaver.

“ The kids were just so amazing and, um, like thoughtful and respectful in that situation. And that was actually like one of my favorite moments I’ve had in teaching so far,” Altieri said.

Even when she takes on duties that aren’t her job on paper, Altieri’s main goal is to ensure students learn — that they take a topic head-on, struggle through it, and come out on the other side understanding.

“ I think that’s what success is to me, when you don’t get it right away, and you still get there,” Altieri said.

It’s tempting to hand over the information — nobody likes to struggle or see people struggle — but in an era where many are afraid to be imperfect and make mistakes, it’s a critical part of learning that Altieri instills.

“ I think that kind of doing things imperfectly is better than not doing them at all, and that’s something that I want my kids to work on and something I try to work on,” Altieri said.

In the coming school years, she said this is a learn-as-you-go career, which she embraces. Each year, she strives to find the next best way to challenge her students, define what that looks like, and do so in a meaningful way.

“ I love this school. We are such a small school right now. It’s gotten smaller. The community that we have here — I wouldn’t be here if it were not for it,” Altieri said, expressing her deep gratitude for Jefferson High School.