CRESWELL — A Creswell Middle School teacher was greeted with a surprise of her life on Wednesday, Sept. 18, after walking into a hush-hush all-assembly announcing Kathryn “Kathi” Holst as one of Oregon’s 18 2024-25 Regional Teachers of the Year.
The award is bestowed upon Holst by The Oregon Department of Education (ODE), in partnership with the Oregon Lottery. It’s a program that recognizes and honors teacher excellence, recognizing Holst as a face and voice of exemplary educators across Oregon.
Candidates for Oregon Teacher of the Year are exceptionally dedicated, knowledgeable and skilled licensed public school educators in grades pre-K-12. Holst teaches special education and language arts at Creswell Middle School.
“Now more than ever, we need powerful educators like these,” said Dr. Charlene William, ODE director, adding that awards winners like Holst, “champion every student, uplifting and empowering them to achieve, to create, and to feel a sense of belonging not only in the classroom, but in the wider world, as well.”
The 2024-25 Oregon Teacher of the Year will receive a $10,000 cash prize — with an additional $5,000 going to their school — and serves as a spokesperson and representative for all Oregon teachers. Each Regional Teacher of the Year will also win a $1,000 cash prize and is in the running for Oregon’s 2024-25 Oregon Teacher of the Year, which will be announced in October.
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Editor’s note: This information was embargoed until after publication deadline, meaning comments from Holst could not be obtained in time for this week’s story. However, in a 2022 edition of The Chronicle, this reporter interviewed Holst in her classroom after earning Oregon State VFW Teacher of the Year Award, and sections of that interview follow below:
One of the last vehicles in the middle school parking lot on a cool, calm Friday evening Holst’s dedication to education spans well beyond that of a traditional school day.
“Kathi is the hardest working person I’ve ever met,” said educator Heidi Rakas. “She is the first person to work and the last person to leave … She dedicates her life to students, and goes above and beyond for our students and everyone she works with.”
Holst has been an educator at CMS since 1994, though being a teacher wasn’t always the plan. Growing up, Holst speculated that she might be a lawyer … that is, until a newspaper story above the fold caught her eye.
“When I was reading the paper one day — I must have been a freshman or sophomore in high school — it was the first day of school and there was a teacher on the front cover,” Holst said, recalling the expression on the teacher’s face. “She looked so happy; I read the article and was like, ‘that seems amazing.’”
Her memory trailed back to her grandmother, Marguerite Karp, who was one of the “pioneering special education teachers” in the state. Karp worked in Myrtle Creek, Hillsboro, and trained special education teachers at the University of Oregon.
“It made me feel like I was following in my grandmother’s footsteps,” when she received her student teaching assignment from the University of Oregon in 1992, though she admits she wasn’t initially too pleased with her placement at CMS.
She blushed at her initial bias. “I was a Eugene girl through and through … I was like, ‘where even is Creswell?’,” she said with a gentle laugh. “At first, I felt like a smaller school would have less to offer. But I fell in love with the school, with the people, with the community. I realized that’s not the case at all; in fact, smaller schools have a lot more to offer.”
Middle school is already a difficult time for students. “They’re growing and changing at different rates,” she said. It changes the social dynamics between peers because students “may not see eye-to-eye anymore as they develop differently. I always tell the parents they’re gonna come out on the other side together again, but you know, it changes so much.”
Coming from a school with only one elementary, middle and high school alleviates the stress of kids having to reestablish the “pecking order” among other kids, she explains, adding that a smaller school is “a great environment for kids to grow up and prosper together.”
Holst is recognized among her colleagues as a well-organized, compassionate and an uplifting leader and mentor.
“She is always the most positive person in the room,” said Kendra Anderson, educator and past VFW Teacher of the Year award winner. “Her unlimited abundance of kindness and patience makes her an amazing teacher and a wonderful coworker.”
Her positivity is a thoughtfully honed characteristic, and it speaks to her silly side.
“I try to be light-hearted and pleasant, with a lot of humor — the ‘roll your eyes’ type of humor because, well, I think it’s funny,” Holst said. “Maybe the kids don’t think it’s funny, but they know that we’re all trying to get there together.”
She aims to never show frustration — no matter how many times she may have to repeat herself — and meet kids where they are.
The goal is to achieve together. Holst has devised a variable grading scale that allows her students to break down tasks into smaller chunks, set goals and aim for clearly defined targets in order to meet their desired grade, all while meeting or exceeding state standards.
“Kathi aligns all her special education lessons to state standards, incorporating as much as possible the content from general education language arts as well as social studies standards,” CMS principal Julie Johansen said. “She easily spends over 10 hours a day working on individualized plans and lessons to ensure all students make progress.”
Holst explains an occasional stigma or reluctance around special education classes, “as if that’s a class you go to when you don’t know what you’re doing. But we do hard work here … and it’s gratifying to see students learn they are capable of doing it. I think that makes them prouder because they’re reading the same things as their friends in other classrooms. They realize that they’re … doing work differently to get to the same target.”
For Holst, that sense of connectedness is key.
“Kids have to feel like they belong. That builds strong citizens,” she said. She wants her students to develop their skills “to make informed decisions with logic and reason,” and hopes to be a positive force in shaping their lives. After all, they’re positive forces in hers.
“I can still remember the names and the faces of the very first kids I taught,” she said, her eyes wincing from smiling through her mask.
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Regional Teachers of the Year are nominated by students, colleagues, administrators, friends or family members. Regional winners were identified through a local nomination, application and selection process facilitated by the 19 Education Service Districts around the state. Applicants submitted testimonials and letters of support and were assessed by a diverse panel of regional representatives on the attributes of leadership, instructional expertise, commitment to equity, community involvement, understanding of educational issues, vision and professional development.
After all 18 Regional Teachers of the Year are announced on Friday, Sept. 20, the full list of statewide winners will be available on the Oregon Teacher of the Year website.
Nominations are open for the 2025-26 Oregon Teacher of the Year at oregonteacheroftheyear.org.
Since 1995, more than $10 billion has been transferred to school districts across the state. This past year, more than $607,000 of Oregon Lottery funding went to the CSD, and close to $25 million to Lane County.
