WTOC Top Teacher: Christene Johnson Holmes

BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. (WTOC) - This week’s WTOC Top Teacher says the students in her classroom are just like her children, and she’s their biggest cheerleader.

To understand what drives that passion, you have to look at her role in the classroom.

Christene Johnson Holmes teaches Lower Montessori Classes at Beaufort Elementary School.

Through her work each day, she says something she enjoys about education is helping inspire the learning of the next generation.

“The best part about teaching is just to inspire the learning for children,” said Johnson. “It’s not what I put into them its just the fact that they want, they want to learn so much that’s the best part of my job that learning continues even after I am gone.”

That passion didn’t come from nowhere—it’s been part of her story for years.

Johnson Holmes grew up in Beaufort and has been teaching for the last 27 years. From an early age she was told teaching would be her path.

“My mom told me years ago, you are going to be right here at Beaufort teaching,” said Johnson Holmes. “I thought that I was going to move away and embrace the world, but I found that she was right. This is my passion. I want to teach kids that came through the community that I grew up in. and give back to them.”

Because of that connection to her community, she says tries to build a safe, loving space for her students.

“I tell moms too that they are my babies while they are with me,” said Johnson Holmes. “I will take care of them. The whole child. Not just academically, I want to make sure their well being is intact. I want to make sure that when they walk through the door, if they are sad, I’m like “whats wrong?” Because I can’t teach a child unless, I know they are ready to learn. And that they are happy and want to come into the classroom and learn."

And it’s that care and connection that shapes the lesson she hopes her students carry with them long after they leave her classroom.

“Be patient, draw from the kids, if you draw from the kids and let them know that you love them, and you are excited about their lives, they will learn from you,” said Johnson Holmes. “And I hope that that’s what they take from me, that I love them and they can be life long learners.”