By Kate Wood
On any given day, you may see her wearing one of what seems like a hundred hats at this school. Among numerous roles at Lovett, Ms. Hooker serves as the 12th Grade Dean, Assistant Head of Upper School for Student Life, SGA sponsor, math teacher, and overseer of all Honor and Discipline Council cases.
In fact, it was quite a challenge just finding a time to schedule an interview. Luckily, I was able to meet with her during lunch on Tuesday from 1:55 to 2:05, and I gained some insight into everything Ms. Hooker does for our school (spoiler: it’s a lot).
For Ms. Hooker, being the 12th-grade dean means constantly tracking students’ grades and attendance and meeting with them when they have some areas that need some attention. She oversees the other deans to ensure they are all working together throughout the year. And she also plans the culminating event of the year, graduation.
Given all those responsibilities as dean, she finds her role as SGA sponsor to be a little more “fun.” She loves doing the things that energize the student body. “It is exciting when it comes to the homecoming stuff and helping SGA be creative about what they want to do,” she said, “and also making sure that everything is ready and set to go for prom.”
One challenge she faces is being both someone who helps plan prom and connects with students, while also being someone who must sometimes discipline them. “I don’t know how many people actually like to hang out with me,” she joked, “but that’s okay.”
But she does try to maintain a healthy balance. “I try to not just talk to kids about discipline stuff. When I get to know them, I try to talk to them about other things so they realize that I’m not awful and I’m a person,” she said.
She also keeps a foot in the classroom, teaching math to 11th graders. (Unfortunately, I am not one of them.) “I like to stay teaching a class because it gives a group of students a different viewpoint of me where they don’t necessarily just see me as the administrator that has to tell them a lot of the things that they’re doing incorrectly,” she said.
When I asked how she manages her rigorous schedule, Ms. Hooker told me her Google calendar is her most important tool. “I also have several checklists,” she said, ”so I know what has to get done before I leave school.”
But Ms. Hooker believes there’s always room for improvement. “I probably need a better way to put all of that together at one time,” she admitted. “But I’m trying to manage.”
One other piece of her life she must manage? Her family. On the same phone she uses to keep track of her school calendar, she can also see her kid’s schedule.
And while that schedule often determines how she spends her time outside of school, she’s fine with that. “I absolutely love doing whatever they want to do with them,” she said, “so I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
If all of these different roles weren’t enough, on Halloween she added another one: Coach Prime. “It all started with my son’s idea that he wanted to be Coach Prime,” she said. “And so our family is all coordinated with different roles of Coach Prime.” You may have seen Ms. Hooker walking around in Jackson State University gear. Her son dressed up in his current gear at Colorado.
Ms. Hooker did offer some advice for people trying to figure out how much they should take on in their lives. “Only take on what you know you can handle,” she said. “A thousand percent I say take risks, but make sure that you’re not taking a risk that’s going to put you in a place where you don’t feel like you are being successful.”
