Public Education Matters

READ THE BLOG POST | Check out Julie Holderbaum's Doing Whatever it Takes: A Changed Perspective post on Voices of Change here

• Julie Holderbaum, High School English Teacher, Minerva, Ohio
  • Julie Holderbaum has taught high school English for 25 years. She currently teaches 9th and 11th grade at Minerva High School in Minerva, Ohio. She is a frequent contributor to OEA’s Voices of Change blog and has also been published by Plunderbund, Education Week, and the Washington Post’s education blog, Answer Sheet. She lives with her husband and daughter and the family’s chocolate Lab, who keeps her sane when yoga doesn’t 

"There was a lot of fear springing from the unknown. We didn't know how long it was going to last, we didn't know how long it was going to be, people were getting laid off and things were shutting down. And we had a week to get ready for teaching online and none of us had ever done that before, so that was very stressful. And, early on, I figured out, ok, you're going to lose your mind if you just keep functioning the way you're functioning."

• 1:15 - Teaching in-person five days a week all year
• 1:45 - Life in a small, rural community
• 2:45 - The challenges of having a large portion of the school out at any time for quarantines
• 3:30 - The toll the pandemic has taken: "It was just school all the time and therefore stress all the time."
• 5:45 - Setting boundaries, exercising more, and reading books for fun.  
• 6:15 - Concerns about adjusting lesson plans for individual in-person work in the fall while facing concerns about the virus
• 7:05 - "Even though my schedule had to returned to normal, I had to set some limits. Otherwise, I knew I was going to burnout really fast."
• 7:30 - Considering leaving the teaching profession, finding a lack of get-up-and-go, and changing priorities
• 9:15 - Henry Darby, a South Carolina high school principal who took an overnight job at Walmart to help his students, was featured on NBC's TODAY | Watch the full story here
• 10:15 - "When I first saw that, that was my first clue that something was really wrong, because I was kind of angry about it."
• 11:45 - Teachers start to feel down on themselves if they're not going to extraordinary lengths
• 12:30 - "Being a teacher is a large part of my identity... it is who I am. But it can't be the only thing I am."
• 13:20 - Becoming a more effective educator by reassessing priorities and taking care of own needs
• 16:10 - The importance of sharing this perspective with other educators: "Because I know I'm not alone."
• "Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito’s wing that falls on the rails." - Henry David Thoreau, Walden 
• 17:40 - Recognizing the 'mosquito wing things'

"I feel sometimes that teachers are expected to go above and beyond, and if you're not going above and beyond, if you're just doing a good job within the parameters of your school day, you're kind of looked at like you're slacking."

• Email educationmatters@ohea.org with your feedback or ideas for future Education Matters topics
• Like OEA on Facebook
• Follow OEA on Twitter
• Follow OEA on Instagram
• Get the latest news and statements from OEA here
• Learn more about where OEA stands on the issues 
• Keep up to date on the legislation affecting Ohio public schools and educators with OEA's Legislative Watch

• The Ohio Education Association represents more than 120,000 teachers, faculty members and support professionals who work in Ohio’s schools, colleges, and universities to help improve public education and the lives of Ohio’s children. OEA members provide professional services to benefit students, schools, and the public in virtually every position needed to run Ohio’s schools.
• Education Matters host Katie Olmsted serves as Media Relations Consultant for the Ohio Education Association. She joined OEA in May, 2020, after a ten-year career as a television reporter, anchor, and producer. Katie comes from a family of educators and is passionate about telling educators' stories and advocating for Ohio's students.