Teacher Spotlight : Señora Holm

Mrs. DeAnna Holm is from Centralia, IL. She grew up on a farm, milking cows, goats, and showing many animals including horses and dogs. Mrs. Holm says, “You can find some kind of pet at my house,” as they currently have a 100 pound Great Pyrenees/Anatolian dog named Appa. Her grandparents also had a dairy farm of their own. Her great grandparents lived in New Minden, which is now the house that she and her husband, Wally, live in currently. Wally and DeAnna enjoy going to Rocket basketball games when they can. They have three grown children together Trevor, Nate, and Rachel, who all live in Colorado Springs, Colorado. DeAnna and Wally spend most of their summer vacation in Colorado Springs visiting their children and National Parks.

     When Sra. Holm was just 17 years old, she decided to live in Brazil for a year. Less than a month later after living in a different country she turned 18. She never took a foreign language in high school. She learned how to speak Portuguese while living in Brazil with a family that did not speak any English, just Portuguese. Then from 2004-2008, while she was taking classes she started to spend her summers in Guatemala translating for the Harvard Medical School students who were working with Doctors Without Borders doing immunizations and check-ups. She has been back there a few times to translate and help other teachers and students who are learning Spanish. She continues to practice her Portuguese and Italian.

     Mrs. Holm, also known as Señora, has been a teacher at OHS for 16 years. She teaches Spanish I, II, III, IV, and occasionally Geography. Spanish III and IV are dual credit classes. For the past three years, she has been working very hard to earn her Master’s degree, which has been difficult with COVID. Hopefully, by the end of this year, she will have earned a Master’s of Spanish Literature from New Mexico State University. She has been the Spanish Club sponsor for all 16 years here and Student Leadership Team Co-sponsor with Mrs. Schleifer. Holm has traveled to so many beautiful places. For Senior class trips, she goes to Washington DC and New York. She has been able to take her students to Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, Greece, Italy, and Costa Rica. Wally has joined Sra. Holm and the students when they visit Europe. This year will be her ninth year coaching boys’ and girls’ Track and Field. She is excited to coach with her assistant coach Jodi Luechtefeld this upcoming season.