Mr. Ramos, Apopka High School’s very own tech guru, was recently elected for the Support Staff of the Year title. Although only working at Apopka for a little over a year, Mr. Ramos has made a huge impact on our school environment for both the students and staff members. He is constantly on the move, whether it’s helping teachers understand their way around a computer, fixing the computers that students have “no clue” how it broke in the first place, or on the field coaching the blue darter softball teams.

What did you do before becoming a tech guy here at Apopka?

I worked in the IT community. I was a tech support in other places, I was a server administrator before that. I also worked for a firm that did drafting and I learned how to do CAD and that was kind of cool.

How do you feel about being awarded for Support Person of the Year?

I was taken by surprise with that. I wasn’t expecting that and for me, it’s more about knowing that your peers and people you deal with every day think well of you. I think that’s important because for me it’s about building relationships and you wanna be all you can be for everyone you can.

What do you enjoy most about being a part of the Softball coaching staff?

Specifically, it’s about the game that I love, the game that at first, I didn’t really understand. I didn’t think I would really ever want to be a coach, so the fact that my daughter wanted to play softball when she did back in little league is where I figured out I was on the wrong side of the fence and I wanted to be on the clay. And it’s the best move I ever made, becoming a coach.

How do you encourage kids to go to class and be successful?

I think it depends on the kid, because there’s gonna be a different motivation for them. It’ll be either “Hey, you’re smarter than that.” Others it may be the first kid to graduate from high school so it’s “Hey this is bigger than just you going to class.” There are so many personalities out there it’s almost like you can’t even script it you just have to fly by the seam of your pants.

What impact do you believe you are leaving on this school?

Probably to let people know that you’re here for a reason and those reasons walk around you everyday. And every year those reasons change, you lose some and you gain some. You need to be willing to serve each other, and that’s what I would like to convince other people to do. 

What are some hobbies you enjoy when you aren’t working?

When I’m not working, and I have time to do something I personally enjoy I like to go fishing. I like to fish for bass, and catching big fish.