Tomlinson Adult Learning Center

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Student and Volunteer Success Stories

One of our ABE-GED instructors, V. Holly
Heintz, was just recognized as the Outstanding ABE Teacher for 2018 by the
National Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE.) Here are some of the appreciative words
shared by former students and parents:

"She's the most caring, helpful, and
thoughtful teacher I've ever known." This characterization of Holly Heintz came
from Ray B., but it could have come from another hundred students. Ray is a student at the St. Petersburg PTC
and he credits his GED teacher, Holly Heintz, with his being there. "As a
result of my positive experience with Holly, I enrolled in the Building and
Construction Technology Program. With
the Algebra she taught me, I was able to get the construction part of the
math. I have five children and am now
confident that I will be able to help them with their homework. I'm waiting to hear back from an Electrical
Apprenticeship that Holly told me about."
Upon completion of the four year program, "…I will have a degree in Electrical.
Holly was the reason for me staying, and wanting to complete my goal of
obtaining my GED. Holly never told me
'No'. Most of all she had confidence in
me—when I didn't have confidence in myself."

D. Sherman,
another huge fan of Holly's, said to her in an email, "I've been thinking about you and wanted to drop a line to let you know
how our son R... is doing, which is very well.
I don't want to 'jynx' anything, but attending school with you is the
best thing we ever did. Thank you again
so much." Deb's son didn't fare well in the rough and tumble halls of the
public high school. He came to us and
said he wanted to be an attorney and Holly said "Great, then you need to get busy." Some teachers might not have been as
encouraging, since Roc has Asperger's Syndrome.
For Holly, R…'s Asperger's was just another thing that made him a unique
student, not a disabled one. She
believes that every student is uniquely able and she makes it her purpose to
divine ways to help them achieve their goals and realize their ambitions. Holly has studied to understand how best to
communicate and teach those on the Asperger's Spectrum: no sarcasm and avoid idioms; make it clear
and direct; chunk learning and assignments into sizes that don't
intimidate. In Holly's 13+ years of
teaching adults in the jail, at SPC Gibbs, and at Tomlinson, she has learned a
lot about how students work and she uses that understanding to truly provide a
prescriptive approach for each one-of-a-kind individual who walks into her
room. After completing a semester of
classes at SPC, R…'s dad said, "At SPC he
has no in-the-classroom help, but he is incredibly committed to college. He works on long-term projects as soon as he
gets them. He's transformed." But Holly is best characterized by R…
himself, who wrote, "Ms. Holly helped me
through some very difficult times; she believed in me and because of her I am
on my journey to live the fullest life I can." In a nutshell, that is why Holly is so
amazing; she sees her purpose as empowering her students to live their lives to
their fullest.