Holland Recognized As Instructional Teaching Assistant Of The Year
WF-R graduate, Ohio State graduate and football player, seven-year NFL player, member of the WF Athletics Hall of Fame, Jamie Holland is recognized by his peers for always giving of himself to all students, not just those in his class or on his teams
Assistant Principal Cynthia Simons, left, recognizes coach Jamie Holland, right, in the main office for his selection as the 2022-23 Instructional Teacher Assistant of the Year.
Coach Jamie Holland, an instructional assistant, has been helping out at Wake Forest high school for a long time now. Now, he is known as the 2022-23 Instructional Teacher Assistant of the Year.
Holland, who graduated from WF-R in the early 80s, was recognized for his positive relationships with students and for being a helping hand to countless teachers.
Holland’s role as a teachers assistant has developed over the years.
“It’s pretty self-explanatory. It used to be called teacher assistant, and then they changed it to instructional assistant. It opened up more things for us instructional assistants to do. We can even teach the class and be able to exercise the education that we have,” Holland said. “I think that was a great change so that we have more of a role as far as teaching the kids. We are more than just a teacher’s assistant, we are instructional. If a teacher or a sub can’t be there, we can hold down the class and teach.”
Holland gives advice to other instructional assistants.
“Most important thing is to know your role. Don’t feel like you are not a teacher. A lot of the kids say ‘you’re not a teacher, you’re a teacher assistant.’ If you think about it, the word teacher is in front of the word assistant,” Holland said.
Holland describes his characteristics that he believes got him the recognition for Teacher Assistant of the Year.
“My communication skills. I am a people person. I will talk to all of you guys. I don’t just focus on football players because I coach football or track. All the students I see I speak to in the morning. I try to make the kids feel good. That’s my role, making young people feel comfortable and feel good about school,” Holland said.
Being a Division 1 and professional athlete, Holland has taken many things away from his time at Ohio State and seven years in the NFL, and applied it to his teaching career, the most valuable thing being perseverance.
“Perseverance, no matter what, things won’t always go away. That shouldn’t stop the drive to be the best you can be,” Holland said.
