Students in new teacher Holly Royaltey’s World History class circled the classroom in early August while offering their opinions on what constitutes the world’s top 10 worst problems, such as poverty and racism. Through this activity, Royaltey hoped to help her students understand leadership and the lenses through which history is viewed, both important concepts in World History.
Royaltey teaches three periods of AP Government and Economics for seniors and two periods of World History for sophomores.
Growing up in the East Bay, Royaltey graduated from San Lorenzo High School in 1995. She continued to study at UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Cruz for her undergraduate and master’s degrees in history and teaching respectively. She chose to pursue teaching because it was the job that she thought was most viable for a history major.
At that time, Royaltey said she had “blinders on” because she failed to consider other career options such as entering law school, but she soon found that teaching was a great fit for her.
“I wanted to do something that was active, where I had a lot of freedom and autonomy, and where I was around people, and teaching fits all of those things,” Royaltey said. “I knew I couldn’t work behind a desk all day; it wasn’t for me.”
Her first teaching job was at Scotts Valley High School, where she taught for three years. She later taught at Leigh and Del Mar High school for five and 11 years respectively.
When teaching, Royaltey places a large emphasis on learning theory: She wants students to know how they learn best after leaving her class. Royaltey also hopes to help students form good study habits and manage their time well.
To prevent boredom and exhaustion in class — which Royaltey often dealt with at Scotts Valley High’s 106-minute-long periods — she constantly has students engage in interactive activities such as having students move around the classroom and discuss ideas with each other.
Despite the transition to Saratoga High’s shorter class periods, Royaltey noticed a big difference in student attitudes, praising their high level of academic commitment.
“The level of academic commitment [at SHS] is unlike anywhere I’ve ever been,” Royaltey said. “Scotts Valley and Leigh are high performing, but students here do so many interesting things like tutoring English, playing in the school orchestras and teaching art.”
However, as a downside, Royaltey has also noticed that such a level of academic performance is accompanied by a “wicked amount of stress,” and she hopes she can provide some perspective to help students relieve their stress.
“I think that I can help students by just telling them, ‘Hey, what you’re doing already is enough. It’s good, it’s glorious, it’s plenty.’ I want students to enjoy the work they’re doing and help relieve some of their stress,” she said.
She emphasizes using a growth mindset to learn from previous mistakes.
“I do Jujitsu in my spare time, and it’s a constant cycle of not knowing stuff and learning new skills,” Royaltey said. “It’s a good reminder as a teacher to remember what it feels like to not know something.”
To promote “a deep learning experience,” Royaltey expects her students to enter her class with curiosity and push themselves to try new things. She explained that she’d rather spend six weeks talking about one topic in depth than skimming through multiple topics too quickly.
Besides academics, Royaltey — who’s heard many good things about Saratoga’s social events — looks forward to attending annual events like Bombay in the Bay.
“I’m super excited about the conversations I’m going to have and what students are going to learn and figure out,” Royaltey said. “I believe there’s a huge amount of potential at this school, and seeing what students do with their own potential really excites me.”
