Classroom Cribs: Dr. Peterson

A student could walk into Room 202 and, in one glance, see over 20 different countries.

Dr. Holly Peterson has been a teacher at Christian Brothers High School for over 20 years and has inhabited a few different classrooms. Her most recent home in room 202 is as well dressed as ever.

“I love beautiful things,” she says.

Her simple excuse underplays the importance of her decorations.

“They are good teaching tools; I can point to a piece of art and say ‘that place,’ it can keep the students interested too.”

Dr. Peterson has traveled to many countries across the world and has been sure to bring posters depicting many different cultures and traditions back with her.  As a teacher of Comparative Religions and Hebrew Scripture this plays right into her classes.  Maps of the ancient world trace the journeys of St. Paul, and pictures of Rome can show the very roads taken.

Another corner of her room has pictures of Buddha the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Mecca, a yin-yang and a crucifix all right next to each other.  It is as if that all religions are respected in her classroom.

Along with these fine posters her room she has many memorable pictures of herself and her students. Her board has pictures ranging everywhere from her meeting the Pope and Mother Teresa to pictures of her and her niece carrying the Olympic torch to pictures of her recent stay with the Christian Brothers in India.

Even Dr. Peterson’s beloved former NBA star John Stockton has found his way onto her walls, and a bobble-head figurine of him rests upon her desk.  The bobble-head was a birthday gift from her nephew and is especially important to her.

The decorations of the room all hold a certain importance to her.  They all have a function and each poster serves a purpose to herself or her students.  Next time you have a class in 202 or maybe even if you are just walking by, take a look inside and step into a one-room mixture of the world.