Rolanda Wilkins, teacher

After being at Kingwood Park since 2007 Rolanda Wilkins hasn’t lost her passion for teaching and caring for her students. She says she sees her students as her children and cares for them as such. Because she was raised with such inspirationally driven teachers and professors, she grew to love teaching others.   

“I always had good teachers growing up and I wanted to be like them,” Wilkins said. “So from pre-k all the way up to college, I had excellent teachers.” 

Although the teachers and professors in her life led her to the path she’s on today, her parents and grandparents are the ones who created that path for her. Wilkins said she’s “forever grateful” they taught her life lessons that she now teaches her students. 

“They put all they had into raising me,” Wilkins said, “and taught me a lot and supported things that I wanted to do.”

If it’s an open ear, an open door or an open mind, Wilkins said she’s always there for her students or anybody who needs it, just as her parents and grandparents were for her. 

“I care about my students and I’m always here to listen to them and talk to them,” Wilkins said. “Even when they might not think I care, I care. I always care.”

What does Black History Month mean to you?

“For me, it’s not just a month. It’s Black history 365 for me. It means that I am aware of everything. I’m aware of who I am because of how I grew up. I’m aware of my history and how it has impacted me and how it impacts how I teach and in the way I teach. Because of the people who have been in my life, who’ve influenced me, it makes me want to be the best that I can be. Black History 365 is a remembrance of the good, the bad and the best that we are.”