The majority of students at West High are unaware that a faculty member of our very own was once hit in the head and knocked down by a basketball shot by NBA superstar Kobe Bryant. And the majority of students are unaware that this faculty member—who was supervising a summer basketball camp at the time— is none other than Ms. Yoo.    

   Although most may not know the details of Ms. Yoo’s self-proclaimed “strangest moment at West,” what is commonly known by all Warriors is her occupation.

Ms. Yoo has been our assistant principal for the past two years, a job which entails responsibilities such as supervision of the discipline and counseling offices, and authority over the math, social studies, and foreign language departments.

Despite the fact that she is relatively new in the field of assistant-principal-ing, Ms. Yoo is no stranger to administrative positions.

Before she was an assistant principal, Ms. Yoo was known on campus as the activities director for about six years.  Before that, she was a full time Social Studies teacher, and even before that, in 1998, she landed her very first job at West  as an off-campus coach for tennis and track.

Ms. Yoo relished her days as a coach; in fact, she admitted that not being able to coach anymore is “one of the worst parts of [her] job.”  The best part, however, is “the kids. The kids are always the best part, regardless.”

Her passion for working with youth is evident in her occupational history; before she came to West, Ms. Yoo worked as the ELD coordinator at Jefferson Middle school, and four years prior to that, she was employed in the Lynwood school district.

Ms. Yoo had always intended to work in the field of education.  She obtained her Master’s degree at Long Beach State in political science, and then eventually her administrator’s credential, exiting college with the aim of always being a social studies teacher. But when former assistant principal Mr. Girgis left West two years ago, “it just kind of happened” that Ms. Yoo took over.

What else will “just kind of happen” in Ms. Yoo’s future?    Who knows what her next occupational endeavor  will  be? Even Ms. Yoo  herself admitted that she “[has]  no idea what [she’ll] be doing in ten years.” Let’s just hope that whatever she does, she steers clear of any  head trauma  caused by  sports stars!