Teacher of the Year was announced, and this year’s winner is Holly Keller. As teacher of the year, Ms. Keller will represent MHS in the county competition. This is Ms. Keller’s 25th year of teaching. She graduated from Western Carolina University and attended UNC Asheville and community college. Holly says she’s always wanted to be a teacher because she loves kids and wanted a job that was service oriented.

Being nominated as teacher of the year was quite a shock for her. “I feel very appreciated and very blessed to have acknowledgment from my peers to know that I have the qualities to be Teacher of the Year.” Ms. Keller’s favorite thing about teaching is the diversity, “just being able to see the growth in students from 9th grade all the way through 12th grade just to be able to see how they developed and grew.” Ms.Keller worked hard to get that title, and it’s no wonder why she earned it. “I have a lot of peers that come to me for questions on handling certain situations, but I guess I was surprised by being nominated.” Students certainly appreciate all the hard work she does. Ms. Keller has helped many students with many things to help them grow and accomplish many things.

Even though she was nominated for Teacher of the Year, that doesn’t mean she’ll change how she does her job. “I think as people, no matter what we do, we always try to be better and grow. I always try to be a better teacher and person.” Ms.Keller is a great influence on others, and there’s no doubt that she deserves this title.