Home News KILLIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER EARNS FELLOWSHIP

KILLIAN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER EARNS FELLOWSHIP

5/10/2021

Shalonya Knotts-Holiday, a kindergarten teacher at Killian Elementary School has been awarded a Professional Development Schools (PDS) Doctor of Education Fellowship from the University of South Carolina (UofSC). The fellowship seeks to forge collaboration between faculty at the university and PDS partner school, Killian Elementary.

Knotts-Holiday says through this collaboration, she will identify a problem of practice that is relevant to her school setting and then address the problem while having the benefit of UofSC professors serving as mentors during her research.

“Receiving this fellowship is vital to my overall professional development. It will afford me the opportunity to collaborate and engage in collegial conversations with university faculty while conducting action research to address the problem of practice within my school setting,” said Knotts-Holiday. “I am humbled in receiving this fellowship, and my mission is to use the knowledge acquired to make positive change in my educational setting and beyond.”

A graduate of University of South Carolina, Knotts-Holiday earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in African American Studies and a Masters of Arts in Teaching. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in Educational Practice and Innovation with an emphasis in Curriculum Studies and plans to use it to identify and address issues related to early childhood education. Her goal is to improve early childhood education practices on the school, state and national levels.

The UofSC PDS Network has 23 active schools in five Midlands South Carolina school districts that collaboratively investigate and seek best teaching and learning practices. Nine schools in Richland Two are a part of the network.