The best of both worlds

“This is my sixth year at Armijo,” said Ms. Melissa Flores. She teaches Physical Education (PE) and coaches Soccer. “One thing that is kind of cool about me coaching the Boys’ Soccer team is that I am the only female coach for… the area (possibly the entire section, which is 174 schools),” she said. “I won the League my very first year taking over Varsity.

“I am proud of the fact that I can be a role model for girls in a different way, showing that women can take charge and compete in an area of sport that is completely run by men.”

She’s been serving as a role model for a while as a teacher and a coach. Before she came to Armijo, she taught at Dozier-Libbey Medical High School in Antioch, Ygnacio Valley High School, Martinez Junior High, and Alhambra High School. Before all of that, she had already laid the foundation for education by training and coaching soccer at the club and high school level.

“I wanted a career that still involved athletics and matched up with coaching,” Ms. Flores said, and teaching PE was the perfect solution, but it was a challenge during COVID. “I had to completely overhaul our PE curriculum to make it accessible off campus and meet student needs.”

Now that we’re back on campus, she has other concerns. “I really wish we had an indoor soccer field, winter season is FREEZING and sooooo much rain!” she said.

The road to this career was filled with educational opportunities throughout the Bay Area. Ms. Flores graduated from Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, earned a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology at Humboldt State, a Master of Science in Ed Tech, and finally a Teaching Credential from Cal State East Bay. “There is a lot of schooling that goes into it but if you really enjoy a particular subject matter and like helping others then it is a lot of fun,” she said.

While teaching is an important career, Ms. Flores has another title that is more important – Mom. “I have two kids so my time outside of work revolves around them since I get very little time with them during the work week,” she said. “Typically that means zoo trips, going to the park or just going outside to play.”

Ms. Flores has been married to her husband, Matt, for six years. “We met at the start of college in 2007.” Their children are Aiden, who just turned five and is now in Transitional Kindergarten, and Elizabeth, who will be 1 one on December 23.