While most people at KHS spend just a few minutes in Dr. Holley’s presence every day, the main office secretaries interact with him several times daily.

Mary Dahlem, school secretary, has known Holley since he became principal 10 years ago and has worked with him for five years.

“It’s just fun working for him, there’s no doubt about it,” Dahlem said. “There’s work going on in the office, so there’s not necessarily a whole lot of interaction; it’s just there’s positive energy around him.”

Jackie Ravenscraft, executive secretary for Holley the past six years, said Holley helped make her job at KHS her dream job.

“I love Dr. Holley,” Ravenscraft said. “We’re a great team.”

What Ravenscraft admires most about Holley is how much he cares about each and every student.

“I love the fact that his focus is the kids,” Ravenscraft said. “His primary concern has always been hiring great teachers so that the students have the opportunity to learn and are able to achieve the most they possibly can.”

Dahlem also admires Holley’s passion for the students, and some of her favorite memories of him are when he invites students into the office and breaks open the candy jars.

“It’s so fun. He just obviously cares about students in a big way, and he’s very generous. I think both of those parts of him come out [when he shares the candy],” Dahlem said. “And the same thing when he does the pep rally. I think part of why he’s so good at that is because he really cares about Kirkwood High School as an institution.”

Both Ravenscraft and Dahlem see Holley’s retirement as bittersweet, but they want to wish him well in his next endeavor.

“I’m sad about him leaving because I know a whole lot of us are going to miss him,” Dahlem said. “But I’m also happy because he’s done 10 years, and he’s done incredible things.”