Employee of the Week: Karen Holshouser
April 22 - 26, 2024
Karen Holshouser has been teaching Environmental Science and Biology at the STEM Academy since beginning its 9th and 10th grade program in the 2022-2023 school year. Mrs. Holshouser has been teaching high school science for 15 years.
Karen is passionate about teaching science because it inspires young minds to analyze and value the natural world and protect Earth’s resources, while developing scientific thinking skills and literacy skills. Students are also exposed to future opportunities in an ever-changing world. Teaching science at STEM has provided her students an opportunity to apply content from the classroom to real-world scenarios and careers. Karen has taken students to local water and wastewater treatment plants, coal and biomass power plants, Dry Fork landfill, the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research laboratories, water quality sampling at White Oak Mountain’s ponds and Sycamore Creek at Wayside Park and more! Between community visits, students are busy with project-based learning and investigating in the lab!
Karen lives in Danville with her husband and two daughters. Her daughter Avery is a 6th grader at Chatham Middle and her daughter Abigail is a 1st grader at Southside Elementary. Karen is grateful for the opportunities that PCS has provided in continuing her education career and entrusting her with developing this engaging program. Outside of the classroom, Karen enjoys cooking, playing the piano and violin, working on puzzles, and spending time in nature hiking, biking, birdwatching, and camping with her family and labradoodle Nelson.