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Photos by: Chris McConnell
When Hoa Hasselroth took over 7th Grade Science, she knew she wanted to make it more hands-on.
“Nobody wants to know about mitosis and meiosis,” teacher Hoa Lesselroth said after helping her students complete a sheep heart dissection. “You have to get students interested. You have to hook them. They need to be able to know what’s going on with diseases, because that’s what they care about.”
The sheep dissection was part of a unit on the organ system.
Students paired up at their desks and got to work on the hearts. There are no lab stations, just pans and scalpels on desks, with parent volunteers close by to help supervise.
Students were intensely focused on their task as the lesson unfolded, seeing the diagrams in their science textbooks come to life.
When the students got to their systems unit, they repeated the procedure with a rat dissection.
What they’re doing with the current middle school building is working. But Lesselroth is overjoyed by the thought of the curriculum she could grow with a proper lab space, which will be possible with a reimagined Middle School space.
“These kids right now are at that age where I think you can excite them about science,” she says. “I think this is where it’s at.”
Sarah Smith
Holland Hall Chaplain Sarah Smith joined Holland Hall in 2023 after coaching at independent schools in Oklahoma City, then leading her own parish, before spending time at the Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma.
She holds degrees from Notre Dame and Vanderbilt.
A sixth-generation Oklahoman who graduated from an independent school, she is uniquely qualified to teach religion courses and offer pastoral care at Holland Hall.
Christy Utter
Christy serves as the Middle School Chaplain in addition to her role as head field hockey coach. A 1992 graduate of Holland Hall, Utter coached at the University of Louisville and Brown before returning to Holland Hall.
She holds degrees from the University of North Carolina and the University of Louisville.
Her mission as a chaplain is simple: Helping students to understand the consequences of their choices, helping them to develop a strong moral compass, and guiding them as they lead of life of loving others with compassion, no judgment, and understanding and appreciating the differences in others.
Kristin Lees
Kristin serves as the Primary School Chaplain and is instrumental in teaching the Second Step curriculum, which promotes social and emotional skills in children. The program fosters and builds skills related to empathy, communication, problem-solving, and emotional regulation.
