Preuss School UCSD Teacher Named ‘Coach of the Year’ by National Youth Sports Organization, Up2Us

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Lisa Hawk

For many of her students, Lisa Hawk is more than a lacrosse coach at The Preuss School UCSD, a unique charter middle and high school for low income, highly motivated students from throughout San Diego County. In the words of one of her students, she becomes “your second mom, your teammate and your friend.” Now, Hawk, who chairs the Exercise and Health Science Department and serves as Preuss’s athletic director, has also been recognized as a 2011 Coach of the Year by the national youth sports organization, Up2Us, and the Congressional Caucus on Youth Sports and Childhood Obesity Task Force.

“It is an honor to be recognized as a coach of the year,” said Hawk. “The cornerstone of my teaching philosophy is that the mind and body are integrally connected, and exercise and eating right lead to mental and emotional well-being, as well as readiness to learn.

The Coach of the Year contest is a national nomination process launched by Up2Us to select deserving youth coaches who have inspired kids on and off the field and played meaningful roles in the lives of the young athletes they serve. Hawk was recognized for her advocacy for “sports as a tool for positive youth development” and “changing lives through her work.” She was one of four coaches from across the country honored at the recent Up2Us Coach of the Year Ceremony and Reception in Washington, D.C.

The Preuss School UCSD was named the top transformative high school in the nation by Newsweek and has been consistently ranked as one of America’s best high schools by the Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report. With 816 students in grades 6-12, The Preuss School has an exemplary Academic Performance Index Score (API) of 899, one of the highest in the county. The school, located on the UC San Diego campus, is jointly chartered by UC San Diego and the San Diego Unified School District.