- April 24, 2024
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Teacher Frank DiMasi hates to see a bright kid fail, and when one of his seniors became too ill to come to her classes last year, DiMasi decided to bring them to her.
“I thought, ‘She’s too intelligent not to graduate. She can do whatever she wants in life,’” DiMasi said.
Savannah Goerlich had only been in DiMasi’s advanced placement government and macroeconomics classes at Flagler Palm Coast High School for a few weeks when she was pulled out of classes to finish out the year from home.
The honors student who dreamed of becoming an engineer was already missing classes and falling behind, and when she withdrew, she thought she’d never make it to graduation or attend college — until DiMasi registered as a home tutor through the school’s guidance office and began teaching her at her dining room table.
“Right from the get-go, he said, ‘I’m not going to let you fail,’” Goerlich said. “And he stuck by that promise.”
DiMasi, 65, tutored Goerlich for hours every week at her Flagler Beach home, said her mother, Sharon Goerlich.
He brought her lessons and assignments she’d missed from school, helped her work through tricky subjects and passed along messages from her classmates so she wouldn’t feel isolated.
But he also did more than that, Sharon Goerlich said, by showing Savannah she could still achieve the goals.
“She was so determined. Her goals were so important to her,” Sharon Goerlich said.
In a message about DiMasi posted on Flagler Palm Coast High School’s Facebook page, Sharon Goerlich wrote, “I cry each time I think about his dedication to her and her strength to go on when every part of her wanted to give up. I am awed by both of them."
There were days when Savannah was too sick to study, Sharon Goerlich said. DiMasi worked around her schedule and arranged lessons into manageable chunks.
DiMasi, who has taught for 30 years and spent two years as Flagler Palm Coast High School’s assistant principal, said he was just doing what he had to do to help a kid who needed it.
“I really didn’t think I did anything special,” he said. “What we’re supposed to do is take care of our students.”
Savannah Goerlich, now 18, graduated with her class in May. She attends St. Johns River State College and would like to study structural engineering at the University of North Florida after she finishes her associate degree.
She credits her success to DiMasi, she said, and when she’s in a quandary, she tries to imagine what he’d have her do.
“If it wasn’t for him, I never would’ve gotten out of high school,” she said. “I’m going to look back on my graduation, and that’s going to be a shining point of my young adulthood.”
Sharon Goerlich said DiMasi’s actions have impiacted how her daughter views the world.
“These acts of kindness and caring had a profound effect on her, and will for the rest of her life,” she said. “He was a perfect stranger to her, and he pulled her through.”
Frank DiMasi will be honored with the Flagler County School District's "Power of One" award at the school board meeting on Oct. 1.
