Rosarita Olvina

Monday, April 21, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

* AGE: 23.

* HOMETOWN: Las Vegas.

* FAMILY: Her father, Arcadio, is a retired hotel waiter; her mother, Clarita, is an accountant for United Airlines; brother John John, 26, is a restaurant manager.

* EDUCATION: Attended Cannon Middle School 1985-88; graduated from Valley High School in 1991; graduated from UNLV in 1996.

* 'YOU'RE HIRED': It's not something Olvina expected to hear the first year out of college. "Art jobs are really hard to get," she says, as budget and finding cutbacks in recent years have forced schools throughout the country to cut back or eliminate fine arts programs. "There's usually only one teacher per middle school -- some schools don't even have one."

* STUDENTS' PET: Olvina says her favorite teacher at Cannon was her eighth-grade algebra teacher, Mr. Caldwell. "He was just so quirky. He was just so different than most teachers. His wife was the (guidance) counselor, and I really liked her. I don't know what he's doing now."

* FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES: Earlier this year, while painting a mural on Cannon's roof to commemorate the school's 20th anniversary, Olvina and a pair of students were stranded when their ladder was stolen. "We weren't on the roof more than an hour and a half."

* EXTRA EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: Once the school day's done, Olvina continues to teach in the Clark County Parks and Recreation-sponsored Arts Train program. "Every night when I look at my calendar, I'm just overwhelmed with what I have to do in the time I have to do it."