As a student at Waltrip High School in the early 1990s, Derek Lang had a rudimentary understanding of how cars worked. But it was really Waltrip automotive technology teacher Kris Killam’s simple piece of encouragement that served as one of the most significant springboards for his future.
“The biggest thing is that he gave me confidence to do what I’m doing,” said Lang, a longtime auto tech worker who has owned and operated Kar Hospital at 3419 Ella Blvd. next to the school since 2010. “He told me that day ‘you’ve got a knack for this.’”
While it may seem simple, Lang said that piece of advice gave him more self-confidence than he could’ve imagined or had ever possessed. And such an anecdote was common when it came to Killam, who has retired after teaching automotive technology at Waltrip for the past 31 years.
Killam first came to the school during the 1990-1991 school year, and said he has cherished every bit of the last three decades.
“When I first came to Waltrip…I had no idea I would spend half of my life here teaching the kids of this community,” he said. “…Since I have been at Waltrip, it has been a family to me for quite some years. I have learned a lot from how a school can work together as a whole for the best interest of the students.”
The love, it appears, is mutual. One member of that family is former Waltrip band director Jesse Espinosa, who is now the head band director at Klein Forest High School. He had served as Waltrip’s head band director since 2012 before leaving at the end of the 2021-2022 school year.
Espinosa, 44, has had a longstanding connection with Killam, first as a student at Waltrip in the mid-90s and then as a colleague starting when he rejoined the school as assistant band director in the early 2000s. Killam has also been Waltrip’s senior class sponsor since 1992, which overlapped with Espinosa’s senior year in 1995 when Espinosa was the school’s senior class president.
His longtime friend and colleague called Killam a pillar of the Waltrip community in many aspects, and characterized him as one of the most “honest, caring, and hard-working” teachers Espinosa has ever known.
“Mr. Killam is truly a throwback to what teachers were for many years at Waltrip. I absolutely call him one of my strong mentors,” Espinosa said. “He was always a great listener and offered tremendous advice…I was already going to miss him since I was leaving, but this takes it to another level.”
Lang echoed that sentiment, saying that Killam was always ready to lend an ear, hand, and anything else to his students and go the extra mile. Even during Lang’s senior year in 1994, when the automotive class was stuck working out of a sweltering temporary building as the school built a new auto shop, he said Killam never lost his passion for the students or his community.
“He always supported all of us no matter what,” Lang said. “Never judged us no matter what, and stuck with us through all the good times and bad.”
So too, did 2002 graduate Clinton Holland.
“Despite his intimidating presence, he was always jovial and easy to talk to,” Holland said. “But he also wasn’t afraid to let you know when you screwed up or needed a kick in the pants.”
That, Killam said, is what his job is all about.
“I have learned a lot from how a school can work together as a whole for the best interest of the students,” he said. “I want to thank the parents for allowing me to not only teach your children, but also to get to know them after they have graduated and have become successful individuals in our society.”
Some of Killam’s former students, such as Lang, have gone on to work in the automotive industry. Others are now engineers and Marine Corps attorneys. Still another, he said, is an occupational therapist who mentored Killam’s own daughter in following that same path.
Another, Leon Laureano, started out in the Houston Police Department’s auto repair shop before becoming a member of the department’s police force. He said Killam taught him patience, and still uses the relaxation and patience methods he learned nearly two decades ago.
“I know that if we had more Mr. Killams in this world, then it would be a lot better,” Laureano said.
Killam said he loves seeing his students’ successes no matter where they go, he said, and seeing them succeed is all the payoff that he has ever needed in more than three decades of teaching at Waltrip. And the love he has for the school appears to be reciprocated by most anyone spoken to.
Espinosa said he wishes Killam the best of luck in whatever his next endeavor will be, and that he has left a lasting impact and legacy inside Waltrip’s halls.
“He always stood for what’s good about Waltrip High School,” Espinosa said. “That campus has lost one of its treasures.”
Holland echoed that sentiment.
“I hope he knows that there are decades of Waltrip students whose lives were made richer because of him,” Holland said.
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Retiring Waltrip automotive teacher leaves lasting impact | Education - The Leader
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