Every year, Hollis Brookline High School welcomes new teachers to the staff, hoping to work with passionate faculty who have a desire to help students. Camille Carson is one of those teachers.

This 2017-2018 school year, HBHS welcomed Carson, a biology and chemistry teacher, to the science department. “She has a lot of energy, and it is very evident that she has a passion for teaching and helping students,” said Trudi Thompson, another biology teacher at HBHS.

After attending high school in Rhode Island, Carson attended Boston College for her undergraduate degree. After that, she went to Rivier University for her masters degree.

Carson did not always know she wanted to be a teacher. In fact, before pursuing teaching, she was studying biology as a pre-med student. She only realized her passion while volunteering as a teacher during her senior year of college. “[I taught in] some inner city schools, who were really underfunded, and I saw there was a big need for students like that to have a positive role model in the classroom, considering they spend most of their time at school. And so that’s where I shifted gears,” said Carson.

Luckily, after volunteering, Carson decided to become a teacher. At first, Carson had to adapt to learning environments where students were not always ready to learn. As a result, she developed great methods to work with the students in ways that worked for them. “When I first started teaching, I thought it would be “all kids really liked to learn, and it would be fun everyday, and students would catch what I was teaching them, and they would catch on really quickly. And then over the years I have really come to learn that every student learns very differently, in a different style, and at a different pace. And that in some classes, you’re not going to do what you planned,” said Carson.

According to her students, Carson has a gift for adapting to their needs. “She’s very understanding, very kind [and] very patient…she lets us work at our own pace… I think she is doing very well,” said Carolyn Dolfini ‘20, a student in Carson’s biology class.

Her ability to work well with students stems from her continuous efforts to connect with her students. “My favorite part [about teaching is] learning about students on sort of that personal level, and understanding what makes them tick and what they enjoy… [It] is getting to know students, and building that relationship with students, because I don’t think you can teach students effectively if you don’t understand them as people, outside of your classroom,” said Carson.

So far, Carson’s first-year experience at HBHS has been really good. “The students have been really welcoming and helpful. They give me a lot of insight when I don’t know where things are or who other teachers are. They’re always quick to help me and it’s been really fun,” she said. In addition to teaching, she has also started advising a new club for students interested in going into the medical field.

Overall, students agree that Carson is an amazing teacher who cares deeply about her students, and strives to bring them the best education possible. Countless students hope she continues teaching at HBHS for many years to come.