Excellence in teaching
South professor combines love of music, art, written word
by Diana De Leon, Feature Editor

“Students must be aware of the subject and the satisfaction that can be derived from its mastery. If I can light a fire, then that fire takes over the student.” - Bill Holt, south campus assistant professor of english

   Four faculty members received the highest teaching award given by Tarrant County College, the Chancellor’s Award, at the May commencement.
   The award recognizes faculty who demonstrate a strong commitment and dedication to the ideal of teaching.
   Started by founding Chancellor Joe B. Rushing in 1986, the award is given to one instructor from each campus annually.
   Winners are determined by an anonymous committee who closely scrutinizes the attributes and qualifications of each nominee.
   This is the third in a series profiling the winners.

   William Holt believes in the written word and works to make others believe in it too.
   “The study of literature is one of the richest forms of entertainment there is,” he said. “It is way better than TV.”
   An associate professor of English, Holt has been teaching at TCC for 34 years with two years of teaching at other colleges.
   Holt graduated from the oldest junior college in America, Joliet Junior College in Illinois. He went on to Illinois State and earned a Bachelor of Science in 1966 and a Master of Arts in 1967.
   “It was great fun winning the Chancellor’s Award,” he said. “I had been nominated in 1989, but did not win.”
   Student evaluations make up part of the criteria for the award, and Holt believes that the students are the measure of his success as a teacher.
   According to former student Elizabeth Heck, Holt uses music, art and personal anecdotes to express the basics of grammar and literature unlike most teachers.
   Heck attributes a large portion of her success at UTA to the lessons she learned in Holt’s classes.
   Dr. Ruth McAdams, English department chair on South Campus, believes that Holt has a passion for learning.
   “He has enthusiasm for learning new ways of doing things and effective ways of presenting material,” she said, “learning how to better relate to our students.”
   Elizabeth Anderson, a former TCC student, said she will forever be grateful to Holt for the gift of self-confidence he passed on to her through a semester of writing and rewriting.
   “When students come back and tell me they are still interested,” Holt said, “that’s how I know I am doing a good job.”
   Former student and another recipient of the Chancellor’s Award, Catherine Bottrell, SE associate professor of government, thinks it is amazing that she won in the same year her former teacher won.
   “It is so neat that we won at the same time,” she said. “He was the best English teacher I ever had.”
   Holt believes that teaching is involvement, persuasion and entertainment in a way that holds student interest.
   He describes literature as a cafeteria of endless possibilities, where the student can pick and choose what interests him or her.
  “I bring the student to literature as to a feast,” he said. “There is something for everyone.”
   Holt said that persuasion is making the subject useful and enjoyable to students.
   He is in favor of new films that bring such classic authors like Shakespeare into contemporary life. He believes such films make people think about Shakespeare.
   Holt also tries to instill in his students the love for the written word. He believes that everyone should read one new book for every old or classic book.
  According to Holt, Harry Potter, for example, has many of the same sorts of characters and creatures as do many traditional stories.
   “Students must be aware of the subject and the satisfaction that can be derived from its mastery,” Holt said. “If I can light a fire, then that fire takes over the student.”
   Holt is also active within the community assisting with promoting TCC and judging various writing contest in area high schools and colleges.
   A musician, Holt has played harmonica with the orchestra at University Baptist Church and trombone with the Fort Worth Community Band.
   Holt has numerous publications related to teaching and has written articles for popular magazines.
   He has collaborated on two editions of a textbook used in Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and Arizona.
   Holt also writes for TCC students. The Community College Reader is a composition I text, and Lights and Shadows is a world literature supplemental text. These are just two of the publications Holt has prepared for TCC.
   His publications are sold in the Bookstore at no profit to Holt, and in the case of distance learning, his publications can be viewed for free.
   “The written word grabs my attention,” he said. “Writing is the most essential skill students learn in college.”
   Holt is working on his first novel, Faust’s Butterfly, a thriller-horror about a biology teacher.
   The novel is a re-telling of an old story from a different angle, and Holt has been working on it for 10 years.
   He has rewritten three times already and claims that one day, after many more rewrites, he will be happy with it and publish it.
   Holt has served on many committees at TCC including textbook selection and the faculty senate.
   He served as alternate chair for the English Department for 15 years and organized an English faculty retreat.
   Holt stepped down as editor and captain of the Script, a South Campus publication of the winners of high school and TCC writing competitions.
   Holt worked on the Script almost from its beginning and is credited with its expansion, with giving it color as well as including art, poems and more stories.
   ”He has supported this department [English, South Campus] and the college with his whole heart,” McAdams said. “I am thrilled that Bill won the Chancellor’s Award.”
   Holt proudly displays the plaque for the Chancellor’s Award in his office and said he spent the cash prize on a vacation.