Holly Kowalski

My name is Holly Kowalski, but I am known by my students as "Coach Kowalski" or "Coach K". I am thrilled to be your PE and yoga teacher and cannot wait to get to know you all!

I was born and raised in Wisconsin (Go Packers!), and grew up around sports and physical activity since I was a baby: I started ice skating as soon as I could walk, I cross country skied and golfed at age 3, swam and biked when I was 4, and downhill and water skied at age 5. 

As I grew older, my passion for exercise and sports continued to grow: in elementary and middle school I played softball, basketball, and volleyball, and have incredible memories of PE class and recess (though I did break my arm in 3rd grade when I did a penny drop without rotating far enough!). 

In high school, PE class was one of my favorites (math, physics, and chemistry were on top of the list, too). I had some of the best times as a high school athlete: I played basketball, golf, volleyball, and soccer. I was also grateful that I was able to ski during the winters, and fell in love with the mountains on my first trip out west. When the time came to choose a college, I knew mountains would be a big plus. 

UNM ended up being the perfect fit for me: when I came to visit, I could ski AND golf in March (which is unHEARD of in Wisconsin) and the architecture and mountains captured my heart. As an undergraduate, I majored in Exercise Science and had the fortune to study Sport Science for a year in England, where I was a member of the football (soccer) team. Back at UNM, I was a member of the Ultimate Frisbee team and made sure physical activity was a part of my daily routine. I ran the San Diego marathon the day before my 23rd birthday and remember the long hours I would spend training on the dirt track around the UNM North golf course.

After graduation, I decided to pursue my Masters degree in Physical Education, with an emphasis in Sport Administration. During my years in grad school, I was a teaching assistant and taught many PE classes, including: Aerobics, Basketball, Tennis, Golf, and Weight Lifting. This is when my passion for teaching began. I absolutely loved  helping my students benefit from physical activity and teaching them how to participate in activities that they could enjoy and continue once they left my class. I knew teaching was the career for me.

I started teaching at Del Norte High School in August of 2005. I taught PE, Weight Lifting, and Aerobics for a year and then moved to Cibola High School the next year.  I was at Cibola for a year and then moved to Volcano Vista High School where I was so fortunate to be part of the inaugural staff to open the school. I taught 7 years at VVHS and had a wonderful experience teaching PE, Yoga, Aerobics, Algebra Honors, and Math Strategies. During this time, I was the secondary Physical Education teacher of the year, I became National Board Certified, I became a Level 3 teacher, and I sponsored classes and clubs, all while my passion for teaching continued to grow. 

After nearly a decade of teaching at the secondary level, I was offered a job at the University of New Mexico in the Physical Education Teacher Education program. I was thrilled to be teaching teacher candidates how to become high-quality, effective physical education teachers.

In 2020, I found myself back in the schools, at the elementary level this time, and was excited to develop new relationships with my students and staff members and to continue sharing my passion of health, exercise and physical education. I taught the young kids at Bellehaven Elementary last year and had a fabulous time, but decided high school was where I wanted to be. Life came full circle  when a position came open at Volcano Vista. And here I am!

I am married to my wonderful husband, Johnny, and we have two children, Grace, who was born in November of 2012, and Zac, who was born in October of 2014. We love all things active: baseball, softball, golf, tennis, skiing, biking, swimming, soccer, ninja force to name a few! You might spot us in the Bosque or on the ski slopes, and if you do, make sure you stop and say hi!

I feel so fortunate to be a part of the Volcano Vista community and cannot wait to start this new school year with you! It will definitely be an adventure for us all, but I know that it will be a fun, exciting, and active one!