Tucked into the corner of the 3200 wing and buried under a stack of papers is Ms. Kathleen Holland, a teacher in the English Department at Green Hope High School. Mrs. Holland has spent 6 and a half years at Green Hope, and spent many years teaching middle school English prior to coming to Green Hope. Mrs. Holland currently teaches both AP English Language and Composition as well as English II.
However, Mrs. Holland didn’t always want to be a teacher. She actually received a Business degree but soon realized that she had no true interest in the field. During her time as an undergrad at Carolina, Ms. Holland became inspired by a fellow classmate and her dedication to succeeding and receiving her degree even when faced with many different challenges and hardships. She saw how her classmate’s teachers had impacted her classmate’s success and became inspired to make such a significant impact on one’s life. So as she drove away from Carolina with her family one day, she told her parents: I want to be a teacher.
Ms. Holland does not enjoy grading her never ending stack of papers; her favorite part about teaching high school English is seeing the ways in which her students grow and improve over time. “I taught middle school for a while, and that progression is just not something that you see. In high school, I’m able to see how each and every one of my students grows as a writer and as a thinker, and a lot of the time, I’m able to follow them through the college application process as well”. Holland mentioned.
When asked about her favorite memory at Green Hope, Ms. Holland highlighted COVID-19 times and being able to work with the other teachers and students to persevere through those tough times. “It was a rough patch and a roller coaster, but it was an amazing thing to see how everyone worked together to push through and make the year a success,”she said.
Ms. Holland loves and appreciates the diverse nature of Green Hope. She believes that each student and their unique background adds something special to the GH community, making GH a collaborative and rich learning environment.
Outside of the classroom, one can catch Ms. Holland watching basketball and pro-football, spending time with her friends and family, traveling, hiking, and rooting for Carolina!
Ms. Holland is looking forward to continuing to work with her students and being an active member of the GH community in 2024.
