Mrs. Holloway is an English teacher at Aliso Niguel. She teaches Honors English 2, AP Literature and ELD 3. She has been teaching for a total of 20 years, and she has worked enthusiastically to help all her students achieve success.
Mrs. Holloway says she truly could not imagine working in a different career. She explains that at one point she was looking into journalism or law, but neither truly touched her as teaching has.
In college, she took an education course that required her to serve hours at a high school helping students who were struggling with reading.
She says, “One day a week, I spent time in this classroom with these freshman that were struggling, and I remember leaving that classroom each day, just on a cloud. I loved working with kids.”
She goes on to say, “I was like, I think this is what I’m supposed to do, because nothing I’ve ever done has made me feel like this.”
Mrs. Holloway felt called to work as a teacher, wanting to be a part of that excitement, saying, “Then I would see them [the students] the next week, and they’re like look I did well on my test or assignment. Just building those relationships with the kids and trying to help them build their confidence, and build their skills and seeing them so happy when they accomplish something.”
She leads her class with an engaging style, making sure to make everyone feel included. She likes to be interactive with her students, instead of just standing at the front of the class giving a long lecture.
Mrs. Holloway says, “I find if I’m sitting too much, I need to get up and walk. Sometimes just that closeness makes people feel like they’re included as well as eye contact too.”
She describes herself as being an open book, emphasizing how she is very open with all her classes.
While she is very open with her students, many of her students may not know that Mrs. Holloway used to be a dancer. She studied dance for most of her life. She was in the theater in high school, where she would sing and dance, being a lead in one of her high school plays and she was also a costume designer.
She is very natural with her school snacks and coffee. She likes to make her coffee from home, with a very natural creamer, vanilla and cinnamon. She loves her Greek yogurt bowls with some mixed berries, and she will never say no to a good dark chocolate with sea salt and caramel.
In her free time, she loves to spend time with her son doing all the different activities he wants to do. Mrs. Holloway also loves to find new recipes to make, as she loves to cook.
With students leaving her class each year to move on to the next grade, she hopes that they carry with them the feeling that she supported them and made them feel safe in her classroom.
This goal has been made true as one of her former students, Sanaa Rishi (11), says that she was very supportive and really made sure that she understood what was happening in class.
One of Mrs. Holloway’s current Honors English 2 students, Nishka Harish (10), says, “She’s given me a different outlook and has really explained concepts to me as she is really good at explaining things.”
Mrs. Holloway is a truly loved teacher at Aliso who enjoys working with students and strives to support them in every way possible.
