Teacher Spotlight: Liesje Cooker

Liesje has been both a Health and PE Teacher and a Fitness Trainer for 15 years. To know her as a coach is to love her… and maybe be a little afraid! In class, she somehow combines stand-up comic energy with the ability to push you so far out of your comfort zone you might just puke. She brings fierce passion to everything she does.

Liesje is one of those standout individuals I look back on and wonder how we would have survived our first summer open without her. During that summer, she taught three days a week, giving us the breathing room we desperately needed to focus on so many other things—and for that, we are forever grateful.

Read below to hear from Liesje about what she enjoys most about teaching her students and athletes:

"My favorite part of training is helping someone get started when they don't believe in themselves—in their ability to change, grow, or achieve hard things. Watching their consistency pay off over the years is incredible. Knowing I played a small part in that person becoming a happier, healthier, and more confident version of themselves is exactly why I am in this field. Teaching Health and PE in AC keeps me grounded and grateful. Every day, I am reminded of how fortunate I am in so many ways. Being the students' source of 'light,' when they may not get it elsewhere, makes showing up to work very easy."

This year, Liesje is being honored as Teacher of the Year at Brighton Avenue School in Atlantic City. Outside of the classroom and gym, she’s the mother of three beautiful children and married to fellow Ola Kai trainer and local fireman, Tom Cooker. She coaches soccer and softball and is currently training for her first Olympic Triathlon in AC this summer: a 1-mile swim, 22-mile bike ride, and a 10K run.