Friday, October 2, 2026
As a little girl growing up in Seaford, Kerry Holland would head down to the basement of her house, line up imaginary students and teach them lessons using a blackboard that had belonged to her grandmother.
Decades before she was recognized as one of the top kindergarten teachers in the country, Holland was already making headlines in her hometown. Born on January 13, 1989, she was named the Seaford/Wantagh Observer's first baby of the year — a fitting distinction for someone whose life would eventually center around caring for and educating children.
Holland’s mother, Diane Allaire, remembers hearing her daughter's tiny voice drift upstairs as she played school.
"She could hear my little voice downstairs in the basement being like, 'Bobby, make sure that you're listening. Pay attention to this math lesson,'" Holland recalled with a laugh. "I always loved that aspect of being a teacher."
That childhood dream has come full circle.
Holland, a 2007 Seaford High School graduate and a longtime kindergarten teacher at the Goddard School in Wayne, Pa., was recently named the school's 2026 Teacher of the Year for the Northeast region. Holland was recognized as the Northeast regional winner in the kindergarten category, one of 16 educators honored from more than 7,500 teachers nominated at more than 680 Goddard School locations nationwide. It marks the second time Holland has received the distinction, having first earned it in 2017.
This year's recognition, however, had special meaning. "I was definitely very surprised, but also super excited," Holland said. "The great part was that it came from the parents."
Unlike her first Teacher of the Year award, when her school director nominated her for a long-term classroom project, this year's nomination was made by families whose children had spent the year in her classroom.
"My boss sees what I do every day," she said. "But having the parents see that I'm truly making that difference in their child's life, it was a little bit more meaningful this time."
Holland attended Seaford Manor Elementary School, Seaford Middle School and Seaford High before earning a master's in education from Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Although she has built her career in Pennsylvania, she said that the years she spent growing up in Seaford and the teachers she met here helped shape the educator she has become.
She especially credits her second-grade teacher, Mrs. Conti, and her fourth-grade teacher, Jean Marie Aplustille, with inspiring her.
"They made those meaningful connections where I didn't just feel like one of 20 other kids in the class," Holland said. "They always cared for me in special ways, and just made me fall in love with learning so much."
Years later, while completing her student teaching, Holland reached back out to Aplustille for guidance. For Aplustille, hearing that a former student had chosen the same profession was deeply rewarding. "Watching a family that I fell in love with years ago go on to make beautiful career choices means so much,” she said.
She remembers Holland as an eager fourth-grader who wasn't afraid to ask questions or tackle difficult assignments. "She was just a role model to other students," Aplustille recalled. "She was hardworking, always eager to please, came from a great family and always had a smile on her face."
Even then, Aplustille said, Holland showed the nurturing qualities that define her today. "We used to do a buddy project with second-graders, and she just took them under her wing," Aplustille recalled. "She showed them the ropes, didn't judge them and just made them feel confident and loved. She was born to be an educator."
Holland strives to create those same kinds of lasting memories in her own classroom. Rather than focusing only on traditional kindergarten lessons, she builds long-term projects designed to give students real-world experiences. In past years she has taught students about elections through classroom voting projects. This year, her kindergartners spent months writing and publishing their own books before celebrating with a classroom publishing party.
"When I went to kindergarten, it was, 'A is for Apple,'" Holland said. "Now we're taking that step up."
By the end of the school year, many of her students are reading independently and writing complete stories.
For Holland, however, the biggest rewards come in quieter moments. "I always call them those light bulb moments," she said. "When a student finally gets something, when they're reading a sentence all by themselves and you just see that little light bulb go off — they're so excited that they were able to do it on their own."
Parents echoed that impact in the nominations supporting her award, writing about the confidence and growth they saw in their children throughout the year.
"It was really touching," Holland said. "Some parents wrote paragraphs. It was special to read that and really see the difference that I made."
Although she now lives in Exton, Pennsylvania, with her husband, Mike, and their two children, Avery and Nolan, Holland said that Seaford remains an important part of her life. Her parents are active in the Seaford Historical Society, and a nephew now attends Seaford Manor, creating what she called a "full-circle moment" for the family.
This fall, Holland will begin another new chapter, leaving Goddard after 15 years to become a kindergarten teacher in the Phoenixville (Pa.) Area School District — a longtime professional goal. She said she is excited about collaborating with fellow kindergarten teachers while continuing to help young students discover a love of learning.
"I tell my students all the time that you can go and do whatever you want to do," Holland said. "You just have to work hard and achieve it."
For Aplustille, Holland's success is more than a point of pride — it's a reminder of why she became a teacher in the first place. "I've been thinking about retiring next year," Aplustille said. "But this made me realize that maybe I'm not done yet. I think maybe I still have a few more Kerrys in me."
