One of Holyoke High’s new English teachers, Sara Lovotti, is one of the many new teachers hired this year. Although Lovotti originally went to college to become a veterinarian at UMass, she left before she was able to graduate. After she had her son Max she went back to school at Westfield State University for English but not yet knowing she wanted to become a teacher. While at Westfield, Lovotti would help her classmates with their work, and she realized she was very good at helping people with things they did not understand. After deciding to pursue a teaching degree, she graduated from Westfield state one of the top five in her class on May 21, 2016.

As a student teacher, Lovotti’s mentors were Ms. Sweeney and Mr. Courchesne. “I don’t think I would have anywhere near as much knowledge as I do now if I didn’t have them as my mentors,” Lovotti said. “Without them I do not know who I’d be as a teacher.”

When she was a student teacher she taught Ms. Sweeney’s Creative Writing elective and ninth grade English class. She also taught two of Mr. Courchesne’s 11^th grade American Literature classes. Now as a new teacher in Holyoke High, she is a teacher in the Freshman Academy and teaches Ethnic Studies to ninth graders.

Lovotti says she would never leave Holyoke high because of the students. “Students at Holyoke High are unapologetically themselves,” said said. “I’ve never met so many people this age that know who they are as much as the students in Holyoke High.”

While there are many perks to her job, Lovotti admits there is one downfall: the way people look at her when she says she works at Holyoke High School. At the end of this year, she hopes to have the students in her classes show people what Holyoke High is really about instead of what they hear about it. Ms. Lovotti believes she has found her dream job.