By Carol Stiffler
Hollis Yenna is preparing to start his second year of teaching at Newberry High School after moving to the area from Alaska. He and his wife, Rachael, have four children, including a set of twins. The gently spoken Yenna has also taught in Indiana and Taiwan.
He’s always been inquisitive, he said.
“I was always the bug kid,” Yenna said. “I always had my bug boxes and cages. I always had multiple fish tanks with lizards and snakes.”
Yenna met his wife at Purdue University and said they prefer small town living for their family.
“We like the small towns – having a house in a neighborhood, with kids running around with friends,” he said.
At school, Yenna is creating a classroom atmosphere much different than the ones he was taught in. He gets his class talking.
“When I was in school, I was not the ask-a-question kind of kid. I was trained to sit quietly and not say anything,” he said. “I just like the interactions with kids.”
Getting students to have serious conversations can be tough, he said. But there’s always a student who is interested, and Yenna encourages a good discussion.
“If you weren’t here today and asked ‘What did we do?’,” he said, “We read an article and watched a 10-minute video. What did we do the rest of the time? It’s all talking. I want you to ask questions.”
