Chattanooga, TN - Mathematics
Receiving the Presidential Award gives my work and beliefs about mathematics perspective in the national arena. I am honored to measure up to the award's extremely high standards. I am passionate about the importance of primary mathematics. As I continue to support best practices in mathematics, the respect associated with the award will provide opportunities for a wider audience.
Mrs. Holden's knowledge of and passion for mathematics at the elementary level have made her a key member of the Hamilton County District's Instructional Leadership Team. She accepts new challenges with enthusiasm and devotes her energy to their successful completion. She is described as a talented teacher with a love of working with children. She is praised for being smart, confident, knowledgeable, persistent, thoughtful, organized, and committed.
Mrs. Holden possesses a talent for motivating her students to learn, and she is eager to share this ability with other teachers. She challenges herself to learn new ways to reach her students so that they can achieve more. She teaches in a diverse urban school where many students enter her first grade classroom with academic deficiencies. Her students improve their performance and come to love mathematics. She has promoted a culture that enables students to achieve and develop confidence that they can succeed.
As a system teacher leader in mathematics, Mrs. Holden has conducted numerous professional development sessions, helped write curriculum alignment in mathematics, selected textbooks, and developed curriculum plans for each mathematics standard. She is considered a natural instructional leader. She has served on several state committees to revise mathematics standards and has presented at conferences of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She has also attended special training offered by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Mrs. Holden has a B.S. from Middle Tennessee State University in both early childhood and elementary education and an M.Ed. from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where she also earned an Urban Specialist Certification. She is National Board Certified as an Early Childhood Generalist and is certified in kindergarten through eighth grade.
