Where Are They Now?

the military translate very well into teaching and with many veterans coming out the sense of camaraderie that is missed when leaving the service is present in the education field. Teamwork is essential in both the world of education and the military. This could be a great way to fill the teacher shortage with motivated professionals that want to ensure success for their students and community.

WHAT DO YOU FIND THE MOST REWARDING ABOUT TEACHING?

Quincy Holland received a TASPA scholarship in 2018. He was the 19th student from Southwestern University to receive a scholarship from the TASPA membership. Mr. Holland is the Secondary Teacher of the Year for Pflugerville ISD. Congratulations, Mr. Holland!

Since graduating Southwestern University in 2019, Quincy Holland has spent the last four years at Pflugerville ISD teaching eighth grade U.S. history and Pre-AP U.S. history at Dessau Middle School. His first year working at that campus, he won Campus Rookie of the year. And every year since, he has been nominated for Teacher of the Year. This year he not only was awarded the Campus Teacher of the Year, but PFISD Secondary Teacher of the Year.

HOW WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO ENTER THE TEACHING PROFESSION?

The way I would encourage people to enter the teaching profession is first to recruit more veterans. I feel that my time in the military has helped me understand different ways to inspire students that are difficult to motivate. The skills that are learned in

What I find most rewarding about teaching is experiencing the students reach the “Ah-ha” moment. When I am teaching a lesson, I like to implement a lot of critical thinking questions that relate to their everyday lives and tie it to the history we are learning about. As I am listening to the students’ responses, there is always a moment when you see a student’s eyes widen and their mouths open up as if in a gasp, then they have a sudden smile on their face. That’s when I can’t help but smile because I know they finally got the main idea of the topic. They start to speak faster than they can think because they want to get their ideas out. While at the same time, other students feed off the energy the first student put out as they start to understand the concept. It’s like watching a Christmas tree light up, lights blinking throughout the tree as it illuminates the area. Seeing that excitement about history and how it relates to them personally is something that I wish could be bottled up because there is nothing like that experience.

IF YOU COULD GO BACK TO DECEMBER 2018 AND GIVE ONE PIECE OF ADVICE TO YOURSELF, WHAT WOULD THAT BE?

If I could go back to December 2018 and give myself one piece of advice, I would say “Trust in your process”. When I entered into the teaching field, I had a few goals that some thought would die out as I became a teacher. One of the goals that I had created for myself is that I would always have a high standard for myself and my students. On the first day of school, I tell my students that my class is hard, but they will end up loving it if they keep an open mind. In my class the environment is very structured with activities and conversations that are meant to challenge them and their community. Teaching history, I am aware that many students find it boring and unrelatable. By the time the year is over, they end up loving history because they finally understand the importance of it. I have made it a focus for students to take pride in their culture and themselves and by uniting them through rigorous lessons, Dessau has consistently had some of the best scores in the district in 8th grade social studies. I share the data with them, and they see their own growth, then they start to become competitive to outscore not only other classes but other schools. This spirit translates into students who question not only each other but me as well in class discussions and debates. This is what I want for my students to challenge society and the world.

I also made it a point that I will always come to work dressed professionally, meaning a shirt and tie every day. When I had told other teachers this, they would chuckle and say, “We’ll see how long that lasts” as if it would be an impossible idea. Well, four years later it’s now odd to everyone on campus to see me in anything other than a shirt and tie. This has also inspired the campus to adopt Monday’s as professional day where all staff are encouraged to dress in professional attire, as well as them adopting my “suit week”. Suit week is just as it sounds where for one week, I would wear a full suit. The purpose of this is to show students that teachers are professionals, and we take pride in our profession. This past year many of the staff adopted this and it was well received. So much so, that students even participated!

So that is why the advice I would give to my past self is to “trust in your process.” Because what I believe a teacher can do to influence their students and colleagues can happen when you remain consistent in what you want to achieve and simply trust the process.