Local teacher recognized as finalist

EAST COUNTY — As she finishes sorting graded assignments and prepares to walk down the hallway to retrieve her students from gym class, B.D. Gullett second-grade teacher Jackie Holloway lives her dream every day.

The mother of two and University of South Florida graduate has wanted to be a teacher since she was a second-grade student at Braden River Elementary in the early ’90s.

“I was successful when I was in school, and my teachers always made me feel that way,” Holloway said. “I loved that feeling and wanted to be able to give it to my own students someday.”

Holloway caught the attention of the Manatee County School District in October, at which time she learned she had been chosen as a nominee for the district’s annual award that celebrates outstanding educators and school support staff — the EdVantage Education Awards. The East County instructor and three other teachers in Manatee County were chosen as finalists for the educator award.

Holloway received the news in December that she would move on to the finals. She stood at the front of her classroom, with her back to the door. After hearing the door open, she glanced over her shoulder and saw Gullett Principal Kathy Hayes quietly walk in, to visit, Holloway assumed, as she often did.

“True to Jackie, she just kept teaching, even after we all walked in,” Hayes said, laughing. “Rick Mills, his team and I were standing there for a few minutes before she turned around and said to me, ‘It’s not just you in here!’”

Excited and surprised she could be a finalist after only teaching for eight years, Holloway said everything became a blur after the announcement.

Unsure who nominated her, Holloway had a feeling one of the five other second-grade teachers she works closely with each day chose her. Hayes also gave her input, and later wrote a letter of recommendation.

The principal has worked alongside Holloway since the school opened seven years ago, and she has witnessed Holloway “grow into the role” and provide individualized attention to students in need.

A Haitian student, with no knowledge of English, enrolled at Gullett in November, and found himself placed in Holloway’s class. After three months of daily 30-minute reading blocks, during which Holloway and other instructors teach him the alphabet and basic phonics comprehension at a first-grade reading level, he now reads at the top tier of remedial first-grade readers, Holloway said. The student illustrates one of the biggest lessons Holloway has learned throughout her career — the importance of catering to the students’ needs. She continuously works with the other second-grade teachers to create lesson plans that target areas in which students struggle most and that also fulfill the new Common Core requirements.

Growing up in the Manatee County school system, Holloway can’t believe how much information today’s students need to learn, she said. To her, the learning process starts with a relationship.

“For many kids, learning is about stability,” Holloway said, with tears forming in her eyes. “This is the only constant in their day. I’m very real with my students, and they see that and trust that in me.”

The winner of the EdVantage Education Awards will be announced at the ceremony held at 7 p.m. March 12, at Manatee Technical Institute’s State Road 70 campus.

“I’ve been here since the school opened, so I’m not just representing myself in the competition,” Holloway said. “I’m representing this school.”

Contact Amanda Sebastiano at [email protected].