On the left, we have a photo of one Olympia Filosa, a Staten Island High School teacher who was just 26 years old when she was fired over an alleged romance with a senior in her class. On the right, these boring words futilely competing for your attention. Since many of you will no doubt completely ignore this right hand column and make your way down into the comment basement, we'll make this brief. An investigation by the Special Commissioner of Investigation found that Filosa and the student texted each other 6,950 times, and at least one of those texts featured this steamy photo.
The Staten Island Advance reports that the "sexual tension" between the two heated up during the 2010-2011 school year. The student made CDs for Filosa, who in turn, well, you see. According to a copy of the report obtained by the Advance, eventually "Student A explained that he arranged for Filosa to pick him up in his neighborhood on Staten Island and she then drove to a quiet parking lot where they had the sexual encounter." But of course he had to go and show his classmates the sexy photo, and administrators soon caught wind of the illicit affair.
In September, Filosa, an English teacher, was transferred to Park Slope Collegiate High School, and then to a rubber room, and then she got dismissed. It's a bitter end to a brief career that started with Filosa declaring, "I don't want to be just a good teacher. I want to be an exceptional teacher." And it sounds like the students at Tottenville High School are really going to miss Ms. Filosa. Junior Christian Olsen told the Advance, "If you had a problem you could go to her and she would help." Yeah, that's what he said.
