Everyone has had a moment in their life where they dreaded the walk towards that specific classroom only to slump into their seat, tediously open the heavy history textbook, and fall asleep the rest of the period while attempting to cover their faces behind the hundreds of pages. And when it’s time to type the essay about the rebellion they were supposed to learn about while they had slept, the feeling of dread and guilt seizes as they piece together the few words they could remember.
However, students who step into room H107, greeted with the walls embellished with a variety of colorful posters, have nothing to fear aside from the wrath of their World History teacher, Ms. Amy Campbell. At first glance, people may assume her loud coaching voice to be harsh and terrorizing. Yet, the majority of the students around campus experienced with her class will attest to nothing but respect and appreciation for Ms. Campbell.
“When I first went into her class, I was kind of intimidated by her because her voice carries through the room and she was very energetic,” said freshman Alareese Serrafica. “I was expecting her class to be really hard, and since I’m not good at history I was really scared… but it turns out that it’s actually not that hard.”
In addition to being a World History teacher for both regular and honors classes, she is the school’s varsity boys basketball coach, varsity softball assistant coach, the new girls flag football coach, and also holds the title as Social Science Department Chair and ACT Site Representative.
Despite her active involvement with the school, Ms. Campbell is not an alumni of Ayala. During her earlier years, she had attended Litel Elementary and Canyon Hills Junior High School in Chino Hills, but later transferred to Chino High School to play basketball for the late CIF Hall of Famer, Coach Joe Murillo. While she was an active student who defended girls’ rights for sports in high school, Ms. Campbell also played and earned a scholarship to Oklahoma State University for softball. After attending and graduating within four years, she pursued her Masters Degree in teaching at Cal State Los Angeles (LA) while simultaneously beginning her coaching career for softball with Coach Ameluxen in Ayala. In the following years, she continued to coach at multiple schools within the district until she finally settled as a history teacher during the 2010-2011 school year.
“I love history,” said Ms. Campbell. “I think it is so much more than dates and people and boring stuff. I think that it’s one big soap opera if you really look at it the right way. This guy kills this guy to take over this land. But I think it can be so exciting, and so I try to bring that into my class.”
Though Ms. Campbell’s class consists of several strict guidelines that students must follow, she contrasts her stern codes with entertaining experiences including in-class World War I trench warfare battles and Shark Tank presentations set in the Industrial Revolution Era.
Yet, her adoration for history is much more than simply teaching it. With the new girls flag football team, she decided to become part of it.
“I love coaching girls. The fact that [girl flag football] is a brand new sport and we have so much interest in it is a lot of fun. There’s a lot of buzz about girls flag football,” said Campbell. “I had heard they are even going to consider it in the Olympics in LA… but it’s a growing sport, and to be on the cusp of that [growth] is huge.”
As both a teacher and coach, she strives to not only assist people, but pushes them to perform nothing but their best. Whether it is in her classroom, on the court, or out in the fields, students and athletes under her guidance can vouch for the unconditional effort and care that Ms. Campbell dedicates into each individual.
“If I could describe Coach Campbell in one word, I would say ‘intentional’,” said varsity softball player Ryanna Janelle (12). “Everything that Coach says and does is so meaningful and purposeful.”
