The need for more teachers at Chamblee High School has grown hand in hand with the rapidly increasing student population. This year, the Social Studies department has gained a new educator: Ms. Christina Holtzman.

Ms. Holtzman is a long-time employee of DeKalb County Schools and was teaching at Cross Keys High School prior to this year. Here at Chamblee, she teaches Gifted and ESOL Geography, as well as AP European History. Like many other new teachers, Ms. Holtzman does not yet have a permanent classroom, so she travels between rooms 1109 and 2122 throughout the day. 

Ms. Holtzman is a native Atlantan and graduated from Georgia Southern University, where she studied history, her favorite subject.

“One thing I’ve always found is that real life is better than anything you could make up,” said Ms. Holtzman, referring to the subject of history. “So to me, nonfiction has always been more interesting than fiction.”

While she has always known she wanted to pursue a career related to history, Ms. Holtzman never originally had her sights set on teaching.

“I didn’t know I wanted to teach until I was in my master’s program,” Ms. Holtzman said. “For graduate school, oftentimes they’ll have you teach freshman classes in order to help pay for your school…I taught college kids at 8:30 in the morning on Tuesdays and Thursdays. That’s when I knew I wanted to become a teacher.”

Asher Harkins (‘26), a student in Ms. Holtzman’s AP European History class, can tell that Ms. Holtzman’s passion for teaching and history is evident.

“I like her energy in the class. I feel like she really loves the subject, and she’s just happy to teach it,” said Harkins.

After graduating, Ms. Holtzman moved to Tampa, Florida, where she began her first year of teaching. She then moved to Houston, Texas with her husband and taught there before moving back to Georgia. She taught at Cross Keys High School for 12 years before coming to Chamblee High School.

Ms. Holtzman, a parent of two Chamblee students, is well familiar with the school.

“I have seen how this school operates from a parent perspective, and I was really impressed with Ms. Barnes and all the other assistant principals here,” said Ms. Holtzman. “I decided that I wanted to come join.”

Ms. Holtzman said the school’s multiculturalism is a key aspect of why she chose to begin teaching at Chamblee.

“There is so much diversity here between different ethnicities and different genders. It has been amazing to see…how everybody gets along here, and how everybody embraces [each other’s] differences.”

Ms. Holtzman appreciates the variety between her class periods as well.

“Every class is different,” said Ms. Holtzman. “My gifted ninth graders are loud and fun, which is good. My…ESOL classes are such a sweet bunch [of students] who just want to absorb as much information as possible. My AP European history students keep me on my toes, keep me honest, and keep me thinking. So every class is wonderful, but they all have their own different dynamics.”

In Ms. Holtzman’s AP European History class, Tarannum Ahmed (‘27) said she has enjoyed having Ms. Holtzman as a teacher thus far.

“I like her personality. I really like her assignments and the fact that she doesn’t make us raise our hands every single time we need to use the bathroom,” said Ahmed.

Although the school year has only just started, some of her students can already tell that they will enjoy Ms. Holtzman’s class due to the positive energy she brings to the classroom. Caitlin Byrd (‘29), a student of Ms. Holtzman’s Gifted Geography class, expressed her excitement at having Ms. Holtzman as one of her teachers this school year.

“It’s a very fun [class] environment, and I learn a lot,” said Byrd. “She likes to include everyone, and she’s super welcoming and kind.”

To her students at CHS, both current and future, Ms. Holtzman has two pieces of advice.

“Be present and have fun,” said Ms. Holtzman. “Be present because obviously you can’t do school if you’re not here. Have fun because learning should be fun. Hopefully, I’m silly and goofy enough to keep it interesting and inspire my students to also try their best and have fun as well.”