Angelita Gaffud remembers the days at St. Joseph School when the school only had seven teachers.

A majority of St. Joseph School’s administration and teachers were nuns. And now, 41 years later, Gaffud is the longest-running teacher at the school. The school has changed since she started, but one thing has remained constant for Gaffud.

When she first interviewed, she was offered a choice between second and third grade.

“I picked third grade, and that’s where I am right now,” Gaffud said.

She began teaching in 1969 when she moved to Chicago from the Philippines. She had already been teaching for 10 years and had taught from pre-kindergarten to high school. She said she would be happy in whichever grade level she taught.

“I just love kids. They are wonderful,” Gaffud said.

Children are her priority but it is not the real reason she’s been at St. Joseph’s for 41 years.
“I always get the cooperation,” Gaffud said. “If you get the cooperation of the parents to work with you, you will find successes more than frustrations — a lot of success.”

Gaffud said the parents in Downers Grove are wonderful and that she has never met a parent who would not work with her.

“We have the same goals,” Gaffud said. “Their goals are always for the betterment of the child, for the child to be able to progress, for them to do his best or her best.”

Notable
Gaffud comes from a family of teachers. Her mother, Maria Gaffud, taught home economics and her father, Miguel Gaffud, was a superintendent in the Philippines.

& quotable
“Life will be easier when you prepare yourself for it,” Gaffud said.

Did you know?
Twice a week Gaffud volunteers her time to take care of children in St. Joseph’s after- school care. Wednesdays and Fridays are her longest days because she usually arrives at about 6 a.m. and stays late.

Reaching students
Gaffud said her favorite thing is when students come back to visit her after they graduate high school or college. She has even been the inspiration to a few students who have become teachers.