Candace Hollingsworth, math teacher at South Beauregard High School, has been named the 2021-2022 SBHS High School Teacher of the Year.
She knew she wanted to be a teacher from the time she was a teenager. After twenty years in the profession, she says that teaching has never grown old.
“I still look forward to the first day of school each year and find joy in my students’ excitement over all the high school activities and traditions,” she said. “It’s a career that is both meaningful and fun all at the same time.”
She believes that helping her students “learn to learn” is her most important task as a teacher.
“I love math, but I often have to remember that content is not the most important thing in school,” she said. “Helping my students understand the importance of working hard and becoming better every day, and helping them learn to be goal motivated and success driven are the underlying goals in my classroom.”
Regardless of the subject that they are learning, Hollingsworth wants her students to be motivated, productive, and successful people for having been in her class.
Hollingsworth has taught math at SBHS for the past fifteen years. She currently teaches Algebra II, Advanced Math, and Pre-Calculus. She has also previously taught Algebra I and Geometry.
She served for ten years as Cheerleader sponsor at the school and for three years as the Link Crew sponsor.
She earned her Bachelor degree from McNeese State University and is certified to teach Secondary Math (6th-12th grades). She previously taught at Sulphur High School for four years before moving to South Beauregard High School in 2006.
Her advice to new educators is to get to know and love each student and to realize that the way a teacher treats each student may be the biggest impact she will have on their lives. She believes in making every day count, and she encourages new teachers to plan ahead.
“Teachers cannot successfully wing it with thirty-something kids rotating in and out of a classroom every hour,” she explained. “Planning ahead is imperative.”
Her favorite thing about teaching is being able to participate in the day to day activities of her students.
“I find so much joy and fulfillment in being a small part of my student's lives,” she explained. “I truly love each of them. It is a blessing to help them as they grow into the adults they are becoming.”
“I teach my students to set high standards and expectations for themselves,” she concluded. “I compel them to greatness, and do my very best every day to equip them with the instruction they need, and pour love, grace, and encouragement on them as they run their high school race.”
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