When she isn’t on the volleyball court, you can find new volleyball coach Amber Brooks teaching chemistry and environmental science. Prior to coaching volleyball at Clements, she coached volleyball for 13 years at her previous high schools. On spirit days, you can find Brooks wearing blue and showing her school spirit.
Grace Setera: What made you decide to teach at Clements?
Amber Brooks: I came here to not only coach volleyball, but to also teach. I taught chemistry at my old high school, so I was really excited when they said it was open and available and I was able to do both.
GS: What made you choose volleyball out of all the other sports?
AB: I’ve been playing volleyball since I was 8 and I absolutely love the sport. I still play even now and I want the kids that I coach and teach to love the sport just as much as I do.
GS: How long have you been doing volleyball?
AB: Since I was 8, but as far as coaching volleyball, I’ve been coaching for 13+ years.
GS: What’s the most challenging part of volleyball tournaments and getting all of that organized?
AB: I think it’s just making sure you stay organized, and you know, I’m OCD, so I think the biggest thing is just making sure you have all your things checked off and making sure that, you know, with the girls and the uniforms and making sure you have your registration, all the paperwork that has to be done and then also making sure that I’m also giving my 100% in the classroom, even though it’s really busy in volleyball season. Just making sure I’m giving both of them my undivided attention.
GS: How does the way you teach align with the way you coach?
AB: I believe coaching and teaching are all about building the relationships. Coaching is just the platform that you can do it in, just like whatever subject I’m teaching. I feel like that is the platform for me to be able to get to know all the kids.
GS: How do you foster team spirit amongst your team?
AB: I’m very spirited. I like to go a little extra, a little overboard, like all the things. So you’ll always see me in blue. You’ll always see me repping some kind of Clements something. I feel like diving in, if I can do that, the kids will do that as well. And I think that, you know, being excited about something is what it’s all about.
GS: What are your goals for this upcoming school year?
AB: One, to get to know the Clements way, since I’m new. I want to learn just the different ways that normally the teachers do stuff here, but also the coaches. I believe in you. If you stop learning, then you need to stop what you’re doing, because you should always continually be learning, even as a teacher. So I just want to learn, and then I want to see the kids in the classroom be successful, but I also want to see the girls on the court be successful. And success looks a lot of different ways, but individually, I want each kid to be able to take something away from the class or take something away from the court and use it for life.
GS: How do you motivate students who may not be interested in environmental science or chemistry?
AB: I think you have to do different things. I think each kid is different. Some people are more hands-on and some kids are going to be easy. They just like to read notes and take it in. I like to do a lot of hands-on things. I think whenever you get up and you’re able to work with other people and get to know other people, you can build friendships and relationships in the class. But I also think hands-on stuff, just doing different things that relate to the subject that we’re teaching, doing those hands-on things will just be a little bit more fun. So hopefully that will get the kids involved or excited about maybe whatever we’re learning about.
GS: How do you balance being a teacher and a coach at the same time?
AB: It’s really hard because you have to give your time to both things, and you have to try to do the best you can with both and making sure you’re not giving one more than the other. So I think just making sure that you are very real and upfront with both of them, I think is the way to go about it, but it is definitely a hard task. As a teacher, I don’t always feel like I accomplish it on the athletic side. As an athletic coach, I don’t always feel like I accomplish it on the teaching side. Just making sure you keep your list and try to just keep going every single day.
