English teacher Mrs. Kathryn Wolstenholme moved to Pennsylvania seven years ago after swimming in college and began her teaching career.

“I loved being in the water, oceans, and pools. I desperately wanted to be The Little Mermaid and was trying to hone my skill of breathing underwater,” Wolstenholme said.

Wolstenholme originally lived in Palm Beach Gardens in Palm Beach county in Florida and went to the University of Alabama. She was given the opportunity to continue swimming in college.

“I stuck with it in college because I loved to compete, I loved to train, and it was nice that it paid for it along the way,” Wolstenholme said.

Transitioning into racing between lane lines was just a natural segway for Wolstenholme because of her genuine love of the sport.

“I was competitive in the pool, I’m not a person that is competitive at everything, but in the pool I was very, very competitive and that served pretty fairly well,” Wolstenholme said.

Wolstenholme has been teaching for six years, and this is her third year at Malvern. At Malvern, she has been able to combine her two passions.

“I always loved English literature and reading and writing. It’s an invaluable skill and I liked working with teenagers, I like coaching swimming. And it was really a neat combination of the two. I get to talk about literature and help kids and young adults hone their skills as writers, but also open their eyes to texts and history, and engage their love of reading. I genuinely love what I do,” Wolstenholme said.

Before teaching at Malvern, Wolstenholme taught at Coatesville and Owen J. Roberts after coming to Pennsylvania seven years ago.

“There’s a lot of differences, and then at the same time, similarities. Obviously, coed versus single ed and public versus private with religion, which is a big difference. Also the students and their families pay to be here in whatever capacity. The parents are very invested in their son’s education here. They expect success and really demand it,” Wolstenholme said.

The students here are also slightly different for her.

“Striving for excellence and expecting that is nice, and I enjoy the rigor in that capacity,” Wolstenholme said.

Sophomore John Giordano is in Wolstenholme’s Honors American Literature class.

“It’s always fun. It seems like I am always doing something new each day, even though we might be reading the same book,” Giordano said.

Giordano said Wolstenholme is always happy and wants her students to get better at whatever they are doing.

“She definitely has helped me become a better writer and be able to comprehend more of what I read,” Giordano said.

Not everything in class is exciting for the students, but Wolstenholme tries to liven things up.

“She helps to make the less interesting stuff more interesting to the kids in my class,” Giordano said.

Wolstenholme values her freedom and network at Malvern.

“It’s hokey to say so many things, but it’s true, I really enjoy the support, feeling the support. I think that the faculty is very supportive of one another, so I enjoy that environment. I also really love that we as teachers are encouraged to teach what we love,” Wolstenholme said.