July 10, 2019 | UHCL Staff
Carol Nelson always knew she wanted to work with children. At first, she thought she’d become a pediatrician, but realized that her true calling was to teach young children to love books. She began her career as an elementary school teacher in Santa Fe Independent School District 25 years ago, then moved to school librarianship in Alvin ISD, where she discovered her interest in working with all levels of the school population. Named Alvin ISD’s school superintendent in May, Nelson, a double University of Houston-Clear Lake alumna, said as a librarian, she learned that building relationships was the key to any position she held in an organization.
“I realized that the area in which I might contribute best in my career was teaching, and people I knew in the field always recommended UH-Clear Lake,” said Nelson, who received her undergraduate degree in education in 1987, her master’s degree in 1997, and her principal certificate in 2004—all from UHCL. “I was very well prepared for the classroom,” she said. “I felt that even on my first day. I had strong instructors who knew their craft and I had lots of great practical and field experience. My student teaching was amazing because I was paired with a master teacher. I had a very strong foundation.”
When she moved from the classroom to a new role as school librarian, she said that she found that she could have a positive impact on the entire school community. “I could affect the larger population with my input in curriculum and instruction, and with the hiring of new, high quality teachers,” she said. “When you work more with administrators, you see that they have an impact on the vision of the school. It gave me that passion to have more of an impact. The librarian has more exposure to overall operations of the school than the classroom teachers do, and that’s what I wanted to do.”
While working on her principal’s certification at UHCL, Nelson said her professors stressed that building positive relationships with her colleagues and students was critical. “Students aren’t going to perform without the relationship to the caring adult that knows their needs and provides engaging learning opportunities,” she said. “My students knew I cared about them as people, not just as a student. My professors cared about my success as a classroom teacher, a librarian and principal.”
She said she was placed with teacher mentors who were excellent educators who taught her the practical applications of what she’d learned in her classes. “My professors always encouraged me and told me they could see me going even further than the classroom,” she said. “When I was a teacher, I never thought I would become a principal.”
In the grand scheme of things, Nelson said, life is about relationships. “It’s not about one person being superintendent. It’s about everyone else that makes the organization so great,” she said. “I didn’t get into this position on my own. It was my mentors that helped me and encouraged me along the way, as well as my faith and my family. My UHCL professors gave me support and made sure they built relationships with me in and outside the classroom.”
As she begins her tenure as Alvin ISD’s superintendent, she said she offers years of experience that began with a strong preparation from UHCL. “Having also worked as associate superintendent of human resources, I have worked with employees who gave me the perspective of coming from different places, valuing diversity, and respecting where people are in their lives. At UHCL, I got great training as an educator, and I learned about the power of good relationships.”
For more information about UHCL’s College of Education, visit www.uhcl.edu/education.
