“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do” (Kobe Bryant).
Dr. Toriano Holloway loves to inspire others, and he does his best every day to make sure that he is able to do so.
He was born and raised in Gulfport, and he has always valued education strongly. Once he graduated from high school he earned a degree at the W and continued his education. He eventually received his Master’s Degree and Doctorate from the University of Southern Mississippi.
If it is possible to do in education, Dr. Holloway has most likely done it. He has been in the educational field as a teacher, basketball coach, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and now is the superintendent for Quitman School District.
Out of all the jobs he has had over the years, one job still stands out the most to him: principal.
“My favorite job has been being a high school principal. In my opinion, that’s the most rewarding job you can have because of graduation,” stated Dr. Holloway. “You can see the kids mature and become life-ready young men and women. It’s just an awesome experience.”
Now that he is superintendent, Dr. Holloway does his best to set and achieve different goals that can have positive impacts on the school. In fact, he has learned that the most difficult thing in achieving different goals in his position is getting others to see everything he is striving for as a whole.
“The hardest thing about my job is getting everyone to understand the big picture,” said Dr. Holloway. “I had two goals for the district when I came here. The first one was to increase student achievement. The second thing was I wanted our kids here in Quitman to have the same opportunities for kids that every other kid in Mississippi has during their school experience. We’ve successfully increased opportunities for kids, and we’ve increased student achievement. It’s just getting adults to understand that big picture and buy into and support it that is difficult.”
Despite already achieving some of his goals that he set when he first started his career at Quitman, Dr. Holloway is a hard worker and fully believes in continuing to press forward and getting even better.
“I’d like to try and continue to make this a great district. There are some technology things we’d like to do for the district,” explained Dr. Holloway. “We’d like to do some facility upgrades as well, such as putting air conditioners in all the gyms. I also plan to continue to improve teaching. That will be my focus going forward.”
His determination and passion at work have earned him multiple achievements over the years, but Dr. Holloway doesn’t strive for any physical awards. Although he has accepted some, he believes the true award to be seeing the students wherever he works be successful.
“When I was a high school principal, I was nominated for High School Principal of the Year for the state. I won a couple of awards at Starkville for support staff,” stated Dr. Holloway. “I turn down awards most of the time and have won others, but I don’t do this for awards. My true awards are seeing kids being successful. That’s the most important thing to me. It’s all about the kids and offering them opportunities to be successful.”
His work has gotten more difficult since the beginning of the pandemic, and he has had to make some challenging decisions for his district. None of the decisions were easy, but Dr. Holloway looked at the data and made the decision that he believed would be the most beneficial for the students that he cares so much about. Each day he strives to gain even more support from the community to help with the uncharted territory he has to handle.
“We are in a transition period, and things are going well despite Covid,” explained Dr. Holloway. “The way we can continue to make Quitman a great school district is for everyone to continue to support, and increase their support, of the school district—even if they don’t agree with what we’re doing. We are trying to make the best decisions we can for our kids to make this an even greater school district.”
Dr. Holloway’s strong work ethic isn’t just with his job at the school. In fact, he is involved with multiple outside organizations.
“I stay very busy. I have very little downtime, but I love what I do,” said Dr. Holloway. “I am on the Board of Directors for the Mississippi Association of School Superintendents. I’m on the Board of Directors for MCED, our regional educational authority. I’m a member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Incorporated. Those are just a few of the other things I devote my time to.”
Although most of his time is spent at the school, Dr. Holloway has a family that he loves to spend time with. He has two children, ages 14 and 22. He also has some hobbies that he enjoys doing on the few occasions he has any free time.
“I’m a closet nerd. I read a lot of leadership books,” stated Dr. Holloway. “I enjoy golfing and relaxing. I would play golf seven days a week if I could. It’s just being outside with the peace and quiet of golfing—I just love it. If someone told me I couldn’t play golf, then I don’t know what I’d do.”
Just like with the school, Dr. Holloway has personal goals for himself that he strives to achieve daily.
“I try to push people to be better people and better professionals. That’s one of my goals with every adult I interact with, both personally and professionally,” explained Dr. Holloway. “I want them to be better as a result of their interactions with me. I try to live an inspiring life so I can inspire others to be great.”
No matter what comes his way, Dr. Holloway is sure to face any challenges head on and do whatever he can to accomplish all of his goals.
