EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: Katie Hohman, Class Of 2014

Katie Hohman, a 2014 alum of Evergreen Park Community High School, was part of Colorado’s response to the coronavirus pandemic before she landed in her current role teaching English as a second language to young students in Thailand.

Hohman contacted more than 500 people who were either diagnosed with COVID-19 or came into close contact with someone who had “in order to help educate them, provide next steps, and provide resources” while with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment.

Her projects as a case investigator and contact tracer included working to piece together details on outbreaks that would occur at schools, daycare centers or following large sporting events.

“Every other person at that event needed to be contacted as quickly as possible in an attempt to prevent further outbreaks,” she said.

She also worked as an emergent field epidemiologist for Colorado’s health department, collecting some of the most thorough data on emerging variants as they were discovered in real time. Data collected by Hohman and her colleagues was directly reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hohman has tallied quite a few career accomplishments since walking across the stage as an EPCHS graduate seven years ago. Since graduating from Cornell College in Iowa with degrees in secondary education and history in 2018, she has been awarded a bronze congressional medal for service and a gold presidential award for service as a member of the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps.

It was her time with the International club at EPCHS that first sparked Hohman's desire to make a difference on a global scale.

"International club allowed me to 'travel' and explore other cultures while I was still in high school," she said. "What really interested me in finding ways to travel the world that were actually feasible for me, and to learn other cultures firsthand."

Hohman was also involved in theatre, madrigals and choir at EPCHS.

Other career highlights include becoming an AmeriCorps Vista alum, and a Peace Corps volunteer.

Just before the pandemic, Hohman went to Thailand on assignment with the Peace Corps to teach English. After her work for Colorado, she has now returned to Thailand - separate from the Peace Corps - and teaches three classes online, helping children from age 3 to sixth graders learn the language.

“It has been hard teaching a second language online, but also very rewarding when I can have conversations with my students,” Hohman said.