WYOMING COUNTY, W.Va. -Holly Hale is an educator in Berlin McKinney Elementary School. Hale is a special education second through fourth grade ELA teacher.
She says that she knew at a young age she wanted to be a teacher and was inspired to make positive impacts through her schooling and a special person.
“I’m also inspired by my adoptive grandma. She taught for several years in Wyoming County, and when I was growing up, she was a sub, and when I would meet with her, she’d give me all kinds of advice about teaching. One of her pieces of advice was, you know, when you teach these kids, you’ve got to remember that some of these kids may not have a happy home. So, try to have a happy classroom,” said Holly Hale, teacher for Berlin McKinney Elementary School.
Within her classroom she wants to make sure her students know they are loved and cared for, but Hale’s love for students doesn’t stop there. She is also bringing the Special Olympics back into Wyoming county after more than 3 decades.
“For the county level, we are starting with basketball and cheer this year. This is our first year in like 35-40 years. So, we’re starting out small, but, you know, as I’ve been planning with my team and my assistant director, we got a lot of fun activities planned for our kids and athletes, and some of those will include whole group practices, meet and greets, some celebrations. We also do plan to go to the state tournament if we have athletes that want to go, you know, considering it would be our first state appearance in almost 35 years, and that’s pretty amazing,” said Hale.
She says it was the fastest decision ever for her to take over the program.
“It’s really special to me because I’ve had meetings with students and parents that worry about their own future, and I’m hoping with Special Olympics, as we build students skills, whether it be socialization or physical activity skills, we can show these kids that they do have a future. You know that they can play sports, that they can bring home medals and that they can win competitions and things like that. I just really want it to be as inclusive as possible for these kids,” continued Hale.
She is called by many students their educational mother and when Christmas came around Hale traded in all her travel points for amazon gift cards to purchase her students presents.
“I was able to get them gloves, blankets, you know, all kinds of food items which I try to get them the necessities as well as wants. You know, there was some scented bubble bath in there. There was scented Play Doh in there. You know, and I’ve always tried to do that, but this year was that year where I really did it because I really wanted to do them up good for their first Christmas with Miss Hale here at Berlin,” said Hale.
For first year teachers, Hale gives this advice.
“Don’t stress too much. The kids are still going to love you. They’re still going to want to be taught. They’re still going to want to hear stories read to them. It’s okay,” said Hale.
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