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Dublin High Teacher Spreads Enthusiasm to Students

Dublin High's Sara Hollison talks about her approach to creating richer appreciation of literature and English.

Sara Hollison, a English teacher described as "enthusiastic" by her students, turns that love for literature and literary analysis into a rewarding journey for Dublin teenagers.

I first met Hollison at Dublin High's Back to School Night in September. Her classroom's walls are covered ceiling to floor with books, posters and a one-of-a-kind installation created by her mother (hundreds of book covers turned into a three-dimensional work of art — see accompanying photo).

Hollison, who grew up in Livermore, attended (Class of 1999), before earning a B.A. in English (2003) and teaching credential (2004) from St. Mary's College of California. Perhaps it was fate that a St. Mary's Gael ended up becoming a Dublin High Gael.

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Dublin Patch: What inspired you to become a teacher?

Hollison: I knew I wanted to be a teacher when I was in kindergarten. I used to take my stuffed animals and put them in rows. I had a whiteboard and used to teach them. I had a discipline policy: If one bear was acting up he had to come to the front of the class. When I started at St. Mary's, I met with my adviser and asked 'What do I need to do to be an English teacher?', so from day one I was taking the classes I need to take to meet the requirements.

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Patch: Was this interest from an early age sparked by parents who are teachers?

Hollison: Not really. My mom taught me growing up that being successful isn't about money, it's about what you do for your community. It's feeling like if you go to the supermarket, that people know who you are, that you've helped them out, that that's success. That's how we were raised.

Patch: How did you choose St. Mary's College of California?

Hollison: I walked into St. Mary's and it felt like home. As soon as I walked on campus, it just felt good. I remember visiting the campus when I was 16 and people were saying 'Hi' and it felt like a small community, and that's what I wanted. Then I researched the college and they had a great English department and an outstanding teaching credential, which is ultimately what I wanted, and they offered me a good scholarship, so that was it! I was in.

Patch: Describe your teaching style.

Hollison: We're in a time where we have to teach the California state standards, and it's important, and it's something to focus on. But I never want to lose why we're teaching these books. It's so easy to teach a standard, have the kids do a worksheet and be done with it. But if you actually want the kids to internalize stories, and actually gain something from them, you've got to make it real.

For example, when we study 'Lord of the Flies,' instead of treating the book as a story about boys on an island who go crazy, and then washing your hands and walking away, I try to make the kids understand that it was a slow progression — a human progression. So, we do a lot of study of Hobbes and Rousseau to look at the reasons why the boys acted the way they did. We research the psychology of the mind and why people behave the way they do. That way, when we read the book and terrible things start happening on the island, it's not just fiction for the students. It's something that they studied and there is a representation of those concepts through fiction. I feel like this approach helps students connect to the story.

Patch: My daughter, who is in your class, told me about a unique shared experience you do with every class when reading 'Lord of the Flies.' Describe that experience.

Hollison: I do multiple things with the students. One of the things that I do is to have the students re-enact a key moment in the 'Lord of the Flies.' In the book, the boys are slowly creating a 'beast' that lives on the island, something for the little ones to fixate on and the older boys to hunt. We talk about this 'beast' that's growing within the boys. In the chapter where they kill one of the boys, the boys are chanting, chanting so loud that they don't even know what is happening, and at the end they look down, and they've torn apart this little boy.

So what I have my students do is start to chant, to bang on their desks repeating the chant from the book: 'Kill the beast! Cut his throat! Spill his blood!' And I pretend, which is scary, that I'm the beast, I'm the little kid that comes in. I tell the kids to scream as loud as they can. I come in screaming as loud as I can. And even though it is fake — nothing's happening, none of it is real — the screaming just takes over. We do a debrief after the experience. I ask the students what happened and every year the students will say, 'It's weird, I heard you come in, but it made me just want to scream louder.' The point is having the students experience the group mentality, and in a small way what took place on that island. Afterward, the students are a bit creeped out by the experience. They all look around, saying, 'That was really creepy.' And it should be — that's the whole point of the exercise. That the boys in the 'Lord of the Flies' weren't these crazy murderers who did this horrible thing. They were boys who got caught up. That's what Golding is writing about.

Patch: With so many hundreds of thousands of books that have been written, how do you choose the books you will teach?

Hollison: Books that I love. I can't teach something that I didn't buy into. We have an amazing book selection at Dublin High School, so I choose books I relate to so I can better help my students relate to them.

Patch: What is your view on state standards and standardized testing for English? Helpful or necessary nuisance?

Hollison: Helpful in the sense that it's a very basic survey of what we have to do. I feel like if you are a good teacher with a solid curriculum, you'll go through the standards. I've always viewed it as my responsibility to make sure I cover the standards, not the students' responsibilty to know they are covering standard '2.3.' Good teaching will hit the standards.

Patch: Is teaching to the test, at least in English, a problem?

Hollison: It's definitely not a problem yet, but I don't know what the future looks like. Right now, we're looking at how our kids are doing, how to improve their testing, but there hasn't been a mandate to teach to the test. I remember when I was a student teacher at Vallejo High School, the students were terrified of the California High School Exit Examination [CAHSEE], worried that they wouldn't pass. But when I talk to my Dublin High students, they look at me candidly and say that [the CAHSEE] was the easiest test they've taken. And I remind them that it's easy because they have a strong education in Dublin. Because along the way a teacher was accountable to those standards. They didn't have a teacher who let the standards slip. In this district, we do a really good job all along the way of making sure kids understand what they are learning. So, by the time they get to Dublin High, it's what they learned in elementary school and middle school. And while there is always room for improvement, I believe our students are testing well.

Patch: How should students approach the decision of which level of class to take?

Hollison: I always tell my students it should be what you are passionate about. Is there is a subject you are willing to spend more time on at a college prep level, that it's a treat for you, that if after doing all of your other homework you enjoy reading for an hour? If you enjoy analyzing literature for an hour, then chose an honors or AP path. I know that there is pressure to choose the 'best' classes, but it will get overwhelming if students don't choose courses that are right for them. The right amount of work, the right challenge.

Patch: What can parents do to help students in high school English?

Hollison: I love when the parents are reading the books with my students. What I'm trying to do is get my students away from a basic survey of the book, or a basic recall of what took place. An adult conversation at home feeds into an adult conversation at school.

Patch: One more question: What are the key reasons a student should aspire to attend college?

Hollison: College is your time for growth. I feel like in high school kids are jumping through so many hoops. College is four years to yourself, time to figure out who you are. Choose something that you love. It's a rite of passage.

Hollison is married to Michael Ruegg, an English teacher at . They have one son, with a second baby on the way.

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