Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, June 7, 2017
GOFF
...
Continued from A-1
... or even your disabilities and given
labels, that if you set your mind to things,
have goals and challenge yourself daily,
your dreams are achievable and can come
true,” Goff said. “And the label of being
Autistic doesn’t affect me as a negative - but
as positive ... I am Aliena, I have Autism
and that’s OK. That’s who I am.”
Goff was diagnosed when she was four,
and her mother, Melissa Goff, explained
that “doctors didn’t think she’d develop
intellectually or mentally very well and
anticipated she’d always struggle with
learning. But when we enrolled her in
school in Oklahoma there were no special
education classes so we had to ‘mainstream’
her. Being in that mainstream class lit a
fire under her - she really progressed. Fast.
Within a month she could read and then
became the top reader in second grade.
Aliena was co-mingled with both special ed
kids and regular kids. We loved that school
- more normalcy.”
The Goffs, a military family, moved to
Cave Junction in 2011, so Aliena attended
both Lorna Byrne and IVHS. Her mother
believes Goff may be the first autistic kid
at IVHS to graduate with high honors - she
maintained a 4 point grade-point average
throughout high school. She also earned
four credits from Rogue Community
DWYER
...
Continued from A-1
“I really enjoy learning and
I always make a point to involve
myself in class and not be a passive
note taker - actively participating
and asking questions and seeing how
the material applies to me, and also,
thinking critically about what we’re
learning about really helps.”
He explained how examining
why things happen and asking key
questions can enhance the learning
process. “If you’re reading an article,
think about what the source is - like
what’s in it for them [the authors]
to push this narrative. And even
thinking about your own thoughts,
like if you have a gut reaction against
something, look at why you have that
gut reaction and is it correct or not?”
Dwyer said he’s lucky to have
had good teachers - and also credits
his parents “which were probably
my greatest teachers of all. From
a very early age they read with me
and my mom was singing with me.
And me and my dad used to do
equations just for fun - I don’t think
that’s very common. Also in terms of
moral teachings they’ve been great
examples in treating people fairly
and thinking clearly. And they’ve
also been my chauffeurs for a long
time, driving me around to different
meetings and practices. Plus they let
me go to Spain too and that was very
cool.”
After completing two
and a half years of Spanish at
IVHS; Dwyer attended high
school in Valencia, Spain in
a foreign study program for
five months. “Once you’re
immersed in the culture
it teaches you to think in
the language. It’s a deeper
understanding. You get a real
feel for the language,” he
explained. Dywer’s parents
also met up with him at the
end of his school term and
the family then toured Spain
together.
Dwyer says it was
IVHS’s Ms. Szijjarto who
helped him learn to love
Spanish language and culture
- and to love language in
general. “She really motivated
me to be an exchange student.
I owe a lot of my success in
my college essay and other
writing I have done to her.
“I also want to thank
Mr. Bradley. He’s the reason
I enjoy math. You can tell
he really cares about what
he’s teaching. A lot of times
he’ll seem amazed by what
he’s showing you and that
enthusiasm really comes
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College (RCC).
Goff said she “loves” all her teachers
and the staff at IVHS. “I tend to stick
toward more adults than people my own
age. However my greatest influences would
be my family, specifically my dad and my
mom. Because of my specific circumstances
they were there to help me improve and
grow to who I am today.”
“I think Aliena is an exceptionally
bright young lady and have been impressed
with her since her freshman year,” said
IVHS special education teacher Lynn
Schiermeyer. “She’s made tremendous
growth - both socially and academically - as
most of our students do. Aliena’s goal is to
become a librarian and I cannot wait to walk
into a library sometime and have her say,
‘Hey, Mrs. Schiermeyer, look at what I did,
I made it.’ I know she’s going to get there.
She’s an awesome young woman. I’m so
very proud of her.”
Goff seems to take it all in stride.
“You can’t really see or detect autism, it’s
just a part of you, just who you are,” she
said. “Plus it’s good to have people being
different in this world because if everyone
had the same kind of mind there wouldn’t
really be much change,” and laughing,
she said “if everyone was the same it’d be
boring.” She added that “maybe we cannot
always do things like other people - but you
can learn to do it a different way.”
Those differences can be interesting:
“Sometimes I don’t get sarcasm - I hear
across. That’s a rare characteristic
- especially for a math teacher. I’ve
seen a lot of students learn to enjoy
math because of him.”
Mr. Lathen, IVHS’s social
studies teacher, is also high on
Dwyer’s list. “His classes were
always the most fun. He’d have these
activities where he’d keep us in the
dark until the very end, and then,
connect the activity it to the theme.
Like he could connect a card game to
economics and help us
understand these abstract
concepts better.”
“Ari is a pleasure
to have in our building
every day,” said IVHS
Principal Tanner Smith.
“One of the things that
I admire about him the
most is that he’s willing
to tutor and help other
students at our school.
Ari has the ability to
do anything he chooses
and then hit it out of the
park. I have no doubt
that Ari Dwyer will do
great things and continue
to make our community
proud well after High
School.”
Dwyer will attend
the Clark Honors
College at University
of Oregon this fall and
plans to live in the
Global Scholars Hall
dormitory for his first
things literally. And I think in pictures,
like Temple Grandin. (Dr. Grandin became
a prominent author and speaker on both
autism and animal behavior.) I can see
things with a fresh perspective. It’s very
nice and sometimes it helps me work things
out. ...And it can be very helpful in art,
like being able to see things in colors, and
sometimes seeing in picture helps me to
explain things - I can describe the picture.”
Asked about her favorite activities
Goff said, “I love to read, I read all the
time. I love puzzles that challenge my
mind, country music, sewing, playing video
games and learning to cook. I would love
to learn German because of my dad’s roots
and botany from my mom.” She also said
she wants to spend more time in the kitchen
with her mom, who is “an amazing cook
and cake decorator. She made me a lot of
wonderful cakes for my birthdays.”
About her future, Goff comes back to
her love of books. She became inspired after
volunteering at the library in Cave Junction.
“I would love to become a librarian.
I’ve always loved the library, so much
knowledge there; so nice and peaceful. A lot
of places that are really loud can unnerve
me and make me anxious, but it feels really
good in the library. “
This summer, Goff wants to volunteer
with animals, and come fall, she plans
to take a few basic courses at RCC. But
perhaps more importantly, she plans to focus
on other aspects of life for a while. “Right
year. “I want to explore sociology
and linguistics, but I’m not really
sure about a major yet. I’ll also take
some music classes and continue with
Spanish. If I have a problem, it’s with
liking too many things.” (Not a bad
problem to have!)
Dwyer has played the violin
through his IVHS career. When he
was nine he received a violin from his
aunts for Hanukah. He’s performed
with the IV String Band for five
Ari Dwyer
Page A-9
now, I’ve only known school. ... I’ll also
take a few steps back to learn and pursue
other things, like cooking, traveling and
spending time learning more about myself
outside of books.” Whatever her choices,
Goff is sure to continue making everyone
proud to know her.
years and also plays in a family
band with his mother, well-known
local musician Carol Valentine, and
father, Jack Dwyer, a retired Lorna
Byrne teacher. “The joke was that
they didn’t have any fiddlers around
the Valley so they had to grow one
themselves,” Dwyer said.
“A music education helps out
with all types of education and in my
case that has definitely been true,”
Dwyer said. “Music has an infinite
Aliena Goff
leaning potential - you can always
keep practicing and keep honing
things and go further. Even if you’re
up to standards, you can always make
something better. And in terms of
teaching me discipline, I pretty much
practice daily.”
Dwyer wants people to know
that “kids who get a music education
at a young age do better in school and
do better in life.”