Katie Collins

Katie Collins is a lifelong dreamer, learner, and teacher. Married for 19 years and having 4 kids, she thrives amidst chaos. This year marks her 20th year of teaching, yet she felt called to the profession in kindergarten, coming home daily and rehashing the lessons learned to her little sister…who then began reading at an early age. Katie has taught middle and high school French, ESL in elementary and middle school settings, 5th grade, 1st grade, pre-school and adult ESL. Katie enjoys teaching learners of all ages because she’s deeply passionate about people. Katie’s strengths are rooted in her faith, with a heart to serve others and her ability to see potential in every person she encounters. She believes relationships are the foundation to student success and enjoys identifying and speaking life into her student’s unique giftings. She’s zealous about modeling her love for learning, including normalizing and celebrating failure in the learning process, designing and implementing innovative cross-curricular Project Based Learning units, and facilitating student autonomy and leadership. Her proudest professional accomplishment has been creating and implementing the Communities Family Literacy Program. She and two colleagues saw a need for parent and pre-school English language services among EL families in Hoover City Schools , wrote grants, and acquired community support. This grassroots program transformed into a fully funded literacy program, employing adult and pre-school instructors for over 10 years. Katie believes in the transformative power of education and will continue to spend her life advocating for students and advancing the profession.