Most people know her as their new physical education teacher; others, as their soccer coach. No matter where one might know her from, everyone is familiar with the new teacher at Indian Hills, Coach Reed. In her first year at Hills, Reed’s fun and lighthearted personality has made students hope for her to be their gym teacher for the unit; she really makes an effort to connect with her students and help make sure everyone is doing their best.
Even though she was born in Livingston, Coach Reed grew up in Verona and still lives there. She attended Verona High School and played basketball and softball there. She went on to play softball at William Patterson University for her freshman and first semester of her sophomore year. During the winter of her sophomore year, she transferred to Montclair State and finished her degree there. Now, she is back in school to get her master’s degree at the American College of Education online.
Fun fact! Originally, Coach Reed did not aspire to be a coach/physical education teacher: she had dreams of becoming a police officer. However, sadly, in her senior year of high school, she tore her ACL, putting a massive road block in her path to get into the police academy. Her own physical education teacher was the one who changed her mind. She encouraged Reed to try out physical education as a starting point instead and Reed eventually fell in love with it.
In terms of what she does outside of being a gym teacher, Reed coaches softball at Paramus High School and JV girls soccer here at Hills. Though she has never played soccer, that hasn’t stopped her from making a mark on the team. Sophomore AJ Ives, who was on the JV girls soccer team this past fall and has Reed as a gym teacher says, “She is an awesome coach and great gym teacher. The whole team loves her and she is a great addition to the staff!”
When asked about how she has adjusted to Indian Hills so far, Reed responded, “The environment here is great. The kids are great, my coworkers are great–they’re all very personable. I feel like we all get along really well. We always communicate. Coach O, Coach Buccino, Mrs. Fackelman, everyone on the staff has done a great job of helping me get used to life at Indian Hills. They’ve all helped me in different ways. A couple of the teachers here knew some of the teachers that I worked with at Paramus, so it helped to make it easier coming here after working at Paramus.”
Reed says she would love to coach the Braves JV soccer team again next year, and is open to coaching other sports in time. We are super excited to get to know Coach Reed better as she continues her journey at Indian Hills!