Right, left, march, march. Knees up. It’s 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday, and pop music is blaring from the Veteran’s Hall. Two dozen women clad in exercise clothes and ranging in age from high school sophomores to retirees sweat, squat and shake to the music. All eyes are fixed on the stage, where Jazzercise instructor Emily Hook dances beside a chart that says “Target your intensity.”

Beyond the Jazzercise class, Hook targets her intensity as a resource specialist and as the head varsity women’s lacrosse coach. She intermixes these aspects of her life, leading Jazzercise to alleviate stress before in-class essays and to warm up before lacrosse games. No matter which stage she stands on, Hook strives to balance focus and fun.

Hook sees many similarities between coaching and teaching, including communication and setting reasonable expectations.

“It’s about building a relatable relationship with students and players in order to help them be confident in their task at hand, whether it’s on the field or in the classroom,” Hook said.

Hook, who is in her first year as a teacher and second year as women’s lacrosse coach at PHS, feels able to relate to her students because she was a student with learning needs.

“My job is to help students with learning needs feel confident and comfortable in and out of the classroom and to collaborate with teachers on how to better serve our students’ learning needs,” Hook said.

English teacher Beth Black, who co-teaches an English 1-2 class with Hook, said that Hook’s enthusiasm enables her to make strong connections with students.

“She recognizes that there is a time for straight academic content, and there is a time when learning is bigger than that,” Black said.

Hook attended Acalanes High School and St. Mary’s College. She worked on communications at a software company in Montana for three years, then returned to St. Mary’s for a teaching credential to pursue a more satisfying career.

Prior to teaching at PHS, Hook worked as a paraeducator at Campolindo and a resource specialist at Alhambra.

Hook said that she loves her students and the supportive community at PHS.

“I found my thing,” Hook said. “I really like what I do. I really like where I am. I’m very comfortable in my skin here.”

Hook appeared equally comfortable during the weekend Jazzercise class, but she faced a problem: there were not enough hand weights for everyone to have a pair during the strength segment of the class. In response, Hook asked the high school students to do push-ups against the stage.

“This is where my teaching credential, thinking on the spot, comes in handy,” Hook said as she transitioned into a Taylor Swift-infused arm strengthening routine.

Likewise, Hook’s path to becoming a lacrosse coach has included much flexibility and creativity.

As a child, Hook played water polo for seven years. As a high school sophomore, Hook made a deal with her best friend: her friend would play water polo in the fall if Hook joined lacrosse in the spring. The Acalanes team was in its early stages when Hook joined, but the following year, Hook and her team won NCS.

Hook started coaching lacrosse during her freshman year of college, when a girl she babysat joined a youth lacrosse team that was in its first year.

“I just went to practice to see what it was like,” Hook said. “The dad who was coaching was basically given a handbook and a bag of equipment. He asked if I wanted to help. Ten years later, here I am.”

When she lived in Montana, Hook expanded a youth lacrosse program and coached high school lacrosse programs.

Upon returning to California, Hook coached at Acalanes, Las Lomas and now PHS, where she was the assistant coach last year.

“She’s really respectable and a very strong individual and female, and I think that inspires a lot of people,” said varsity lacrosse player junior Sally Abel.

Varsity lacrosse player junior Amelia Eldridge said that she appreciates Hook’s new drills and new perspective.

“She introduced this new style of offense, this motion play,” Eldridge said. “She had a saying, ‘don’t half-ass two things, whole-ass one thing.’”

Like her lead-by-example approach to Jazzercise, Hook’s coaching style is hands-on.

“I never coach without a stick,” Hook said. “I spend a lot of time really developing the individual athlete.”

Lacrosse player freshman Izzy Wilson said that Hook focuses on single plays that can be used for a variety of situations.

“She’s really good at making drills more fun,” Wilson said.

Hook is strict in a good way, Abel said.

“She’s the kind of coach where she could be your best friend but everyone also respects her,” Abel said.

Hook said that the biggest change she will bring to the program is respecting the position of a student athlete.

“They are students first and athletes second,” Hook said. “I want them to be able to feel successful and confident on both levels.”

As a player, Eldridge appreciates Hook’s respect of the school-sport balance.

“Because she’s a teacher, she has much more of a school-conscious awareness than other coaches I’ve had,” Eldridge said.

This season, Hook hopes to continue the success of the PHS lacrosse program. The team will condition, bond and unwind through Jazzercise, boogieing on the field before practices and games.

“It is such a good way of shaking off your nerves and having fun,” Eldridge said.

In fact, after the 2015 season, some players were inspired to start a Jazzercise club with Hook as the club advisor.

Hook also encourages her players to attend the community Jazzercise classes.

“She is a true teacher and leader no matter what venue you put her in,” Black said.