Molly O’Hara

Kickball, scatter ball, and basketball, Molly O’Hara teaches it all. O’Hara is the new Physical Education and Health teacher after the resignation of Cole Renken last year. She also coaches softball for ACSD. Although she didn’t always want to be a high school teacher, she has been working towards becoming a teacher in recent years. “I love the staff and the students,” O’Hara said, “My family lives here.”

O’Hara is currently in a teacher internship program. She got her bachelor of arts degree at Laurus College and her master’s degree from Emporia University. One thing O’Hara wants to do this year is switching up the curriculum for her Physical Education classes, and create a more choice-based curriculum, where students would get to choose their activities instead of the previous stronger classroom structure. “I want to tailor more to individual needs,” O’Hara said. Health classes will be structured the same as it has in previous years with Renken. She said she liked teaching P.E. classes more so far because she has more liberty to change it up than in her health classes.

She is originally from the Estherville area in Northwest Iowa. She has two kids, Gannon and Gradyn O’Hara, the former of which graduated from Atlantic High School last year and is now attending Hawkeye Community College to run track and field. In her free time after work, O’Hara likes to hang out with her family and friends and loves anything to do with softball. O’Hara said she’s getting more into golfing. Her favorite football team is either the Iowa Hawkeyes or the Arizona Cardinals, and her favorite softball team is the UCLA Bruins softball team in Los Angeles, California. O’Hara is excited to get to know more students at this school as a new member of our staff and is ready to be in her element.