Gabriel Dominguez has worked at Lively Middle School for 8 years, but not just as our PE teacher and athletic coordinator. I had the opportunity to interview him and I’m sharing our conversation and what I learned.
What’s your name and title?
Gabriel Dominguez. I’m a PE teacher, but I’m also the athletic coordinator for Lively.
How long have you been teaching?
It’s my third year teaching, but I’ve been at Lively, in a different capacity since 2019… so I think that’s seven years at this point.
What do you mean by different capacity?
So I started working here at Lively, actually, as a security guard, and then I left, for a little bit, and then I came back and started teaching.
When did you know you wanted to teach?
I think for a long time, I didn’t… I honestly didn’t know I wanted to be a teacher. I didn’t think that I was gonna like it, so I started coaching first and kinda helping out with coaching and started to like it. And then I got offered a teaching position as a half-time teacher, so I only taught in the mornings. And, honestly, I didn’t really know how to feel about it then, but now I’m obviously really enjoying it and probably I’m gonna be doing this until I retire. So, I think I teach just to, especially for PE, have kids enjoy being active and enjoy different kinds of sports, like, not just the regular soccer, football, basketball type of thing, but I really enjoy finding kind of obscure, and new sports like pickleball and things like that, and exposing them to that. I like just teaching what I know to other kids, and hopefully, they take that and are active with their parents and family and stuff like that.
How did you decide to start teaching?
Honestly, it was kind of a fluke. I went off and did something else, and I really didn’t enjoy it. And so I kind of spent the whole summer, like, what am I gonna do with my life? And Dr. Holiday, who was our previous principal a few years ago said, ‘Hey. I have this, part- time PE job for you,’ or, like, ‘I have it open. Do you wanna try it out?’ And so I kinda just jumped in, because I trusted her and her wisdom. She said, ‘I think you’d be perfect for it.’ And so I said, ‘Okay, I trust you,’ and I came in and fell in love with it pretty quickly.
Why are you teaching PE?
Honestly, it’s a lot of fun to be the class that a lot of kids can kind of turn their brains off a little bit. Right? Like, there’s not a lot to worry about with PE. Like, you don’t have to have a computer. You’re not staring at math problems. You can kinda just come as you are and give as much effort as you wanna give that day…we try and make it so no one makes you feel bad for what you’re doing or what you’re good at or what you’re not good at. It’s just kind of a learning environment. And it’s a lot of fun to just be able to, like, play basketball, listen to some music, kind of play in some way even with a hula hoop. Right? Like, the possibilities are endless. So, I think if I was stuck in a classroom, I think I wouldn’t be as happy.
Do you sponsor any groups, special groups, clubs, or teams?
So because of being the athletic coordinator, I’m in charge of I wanna say it’s ten to fourteen different sports on campus. I’m in charge of over four hundred athletes. I am in charge of about fourteen to fifteen coaches, so it doesn’t really leave me with a lot of time to do clubs. Usually, my seasons start in mid-October, and then I go to mid-March. And so if I try to do a club, I would end up kind of abandoning it. And so I’m trying to figure out a way to make one happen. So, yeah, I personally coach girls and boys basketball and girls soccer. I’ve also sponsored the staff versus students volleyball game. We’re also doing a staff versus students basketball game in May. I also sponsored an awesome high school basketball tournament. So I’ve got a lot of things going.
What do you love at Lively?
Honestly, the kids are very similar to what I grew up with, so it feels very familiar, and it feels, very much like home. I feel like at the core of the school is just this desire to do really well and be a really good community for people. And, I can’t, I can’t move away from that. I think if I were to go to another school, even if they had more resources or things like that, I don’t think the community would feel the same. I kinda like the underdog/we have a chip on our shoulder type of thing because that’s how I grew up. I kinda relate to the kids a lot more. I think if I were to go to, like Gorzycki, I would hate it.
How do you show school spirit?
I mean, I wear a Lively shirt almost every day. But, you know, I try to, for games, especially, like, our indoor sports, try and bring, like, the cheerleaders and the dancers and band. And me personally, I, as being the coordinator, it’s not required for my job, but I go to every single sport, at least one or two games just to kind of show, that, you know, I’m there and we care and the coaches care. And also once my kids leave and they go to high school, I try and go to their games too so they still feel, like, a connection to our school and our community. So, yeah, I just try and plan a lot of fun stuff for y’all, like the staff games. Like, other schools don’t do that. You know. They don’t feel the need to do that, but I try and make it fun and have some, like, tug of war, dodgeball, that kind of stuff for everybody to enjoy.
What’s the best and or worst thing about being a teacher?
The best thing besides, like, relationships with kids and with other students, obviously, is, like, the vacation time or, the holiday time. Right? Like, you get a whole summer off. In my previous job, I was, like, working through the summer, and I hated it because all of my teacher friends were like, ‘Hey. We have this whole summer off. Let’s hang out.’ And I’m like, ‘I’m at work.’ But, yeah, I mean, the vacation time helps. You know, I like the consistency of the routine. Some of the other jobs that I’ve had, it was like my schedule kind of fluctuated and rotated. So I really like just being, like, I’m at work eight to five, sometimes later because of a game, but it’s pretty consistent. Like, I kind of… for me as a person, I really crave structure, and I don’t do well when I don’t have a lot of structure in my life. And so having a consistent, like, day-to-day plan is really nice.
And the worst thing?
Oh, yeah. The worst thing I mean, sometimes kids can be a lot. Right? Like, y’all are growing and we’ve all been there. We were like that too when we were y’all’s age. So just, I try and kinda put it off to the side and not let it bother me. But, sometimes when you’re getting called names and things, it’s not the funnest. But you know, I just try to remember you’re not fully developed yet and you’re still kinda learning how to be humans, and it’s kind of my job to teach you how to be humans and just be good humans at the end of the day. But, you know, it’s not the best feeling when you’re getting yelled at by an 11-year-old.
If you had to enroll in a subject or a teacher’s class different from your own what or whose would you enroll in?
I would probably do some sort of history or geography. I’m pretty sure we do world cultures. I would probably stay away from Texas history because there’s a lot of, iffiness to that. Let’s just put it that way. But, yeah, history was gonna be the other thing that I like. If PE didn’t work out, I was gonna go into history. I used to do UIL geography when I was in middle school, so it kinda stuck with me. So it would have been that. The teacher probably, like, Dr. Perez, or Mr. Nava, or maybe Mr. Fossett. Yeah. One of, like, either, like, the sixth-grade or the eighth-grade histories. The seventh grade, I’m avoiding because of Texas history. I’m not doing that.
Who or what inspires you?
I mean, the standard answer for everybody is gonna be like your parents. Right? Honestly, who or what inspires me? I guess just, like, my family in general. I’m a first- generation college student. My parents are immigrants. They immigrated from Mexico, and I’m the only one in my family that has a college degree, and I ended up going to the University of Texas. So just they kinda keep me in check. Right? Like, I sometimes I’m feeling, oh, my life sucks. I hate this. I hate what I’m doing with my life, and then I kinda look, and I’m trying to see where we came from. And so it’s really, hard to complain when you’re like, my life’s actually pretty good when I compare it to what my family has gone through and stuff. So, you know, even being not well off as a kid, like, I’ve been able to travel the world and go to Europe and all that kind of stuff and have an education and do what I love. So, yeah, my family keeps inspiring me every day. I hate them, but I love them at the same time. I think we all do.
Oh, you said that you went to Europe?
I did, yeah.
Where’d you go?
So my brother lives in Switzerland, near Zurich, their capital, or one of the main cities. He’s been there for about ten years. So I’ve actually gone to visit him three or four times. I’ve been to Switzerland. I’ve been to Germany. Hopefully, soon, I’ll go to Prague or France. I haven’t gone on a Europe trip in a while, so I’m kinda due for one. But, you know, maybe I’ll hop on with Ms. Everett and go on an EF tour with her or something.
What was your favorite country to travel to in Europe?
I really enjoy Switzerland. It’s very similar to the US in some ways and really different in a lot of ways. It’s just a beautiful country. You kind of get off the plane and breathe the fresh air and you’re just, woah. This is crazy. Feels like stuck in the past in some places. Like, it feels like you’re in the eighties and nineties because it’s like all farmland and stuff in some areas. And then you go to these big cities and it’s like all this major metropolis type of thing. So it’s kind of interesting because you kind of see that especially like in Texas. Right? Like there’s a lot of farms and ranches and then you go to like big cities like Dallas and so it kind of felt very familiar. I really liked it. Honestly, I didn’t enjoy Spain as much as I thought I was going to being that I have Spanish heritage and stuff. I like the food, but that’s about it.
You mentioned a brother, how big is your family?
I am the youngest of four. So I have a brother who is, like, twenty years older than me. I have two sisters. One of them is fifteen years older than me, and then another one is five. So there’s, like, a huge gap between us. But, yeah, I’m the youngest of four by a lot. And then my two parents, and that’s pretty much it. It was pretty small compared to some other like, where I grew up, it was common to have, like, six to seven people in your family, like brothers and stuff. So yeah.
If students can listen to music in your class, what song/music genre would you recommend?
I have a playlist for people. I’m pretty particular about it, because I’m kind of like a pop-upbeat kind of person. So I’m always, playing like, right now it’s Sabrina Carpenter like everybody else, or Chappell Roan and stuff. But, you know, I’m a fan of the oldies, my generation of music. Selena, not Gomez, the real Selena. I’ll play some Tame Impala. I kind of try and have a mix of everything. I even had, somebody wanted like the Super Mario theme so there’s that’s on there too. I think I had the Minecraft theme on there for a while. I’d go for all of it. The only thing I don’t, really, like, subscribe to is hardcore rap that some kids are interested in. If we can keep it clean and not talk about drugs or stuff, we’ll be fine.
Where can people find the playlist?
Oh, it’s me, myself, and I. It’s mine. Its on my phone. So if somebody wants, like, a song, they kinda have to just come and tell me, ‘Hey. Can you play that song or whatever?’ But, we usually do it I try and have it, like, every other day, with the speaker and stuff. But, yeah, the playlist isn’t… maybe I should make it populate for everybody. But then I don’t think people would put the nicest songs.
So what’s your favorite part of your job as a PE coach and an athletic coordinator?
There’s this moment where some kids, especially in PE, like, you’re teaching them something. Like, right now, we’re learning basketball, and it’s kind of just, like, it doesn’t make sense for them. It doesn’t click. It doesn’t click. And then there’s just, like this one moment of like a light bulb and it clicks. And you’re just like, you watch it. You’re watching it happen and you’re like, ‘That’s what it’s supposed to be like.’ Right? Like, that’s the light bulb that you needed. And I see it a lot when I’m coaching. Like, especially the first couple of games. Seventh-grade basketball is a mess. Right? People don’t really, they’ve never really played organized, and then so everybody’s trying to figure it out. People were tripping all over the place. And then once you get to, like, the fourth or fifth game, it just kinda clicks and everything kinda, like, makes sense and you all like, it starts kind of people start figuring it out. Like, and that’s, like, the special moment for me.
And as an athletic coordinator?
Yeah. I am the type of, like, OCD kind of control type of person that I really like to have everything ready for everybody all at the same time. So when, like, especially like a game day and people are, like, going on the bus and then there’s people staying here, like, I really try and have everything just kinda fall into place and, like, kind of take things off people’s plates. And so when it’s a game day and it’s like, there’s no issues, the bus comes on time, like, everybody has a great time, we win, that kind of stuff. That’s, like, a successful day for me. Where everything worked out perfectly, which doesn’t happen a lot. We are at a school. But when it does happen, that’s a good day for me.
I know you said that if you had to teach another subject, you would have gone for history, but what, type of history?
Honestly, and this is not covered, this is not taught in, like, middle school, but I am a big, like, mythology, ancient Greek, ancient Rome type of person. So if I could teach, like, an elective on that kind of stuff, that would be what I would do. I’m, like, fascinated by the Greeks and the Romans and the Egyptians and stuff like that. And so just to maybe do, like, an ancient cultures class would be really cool for me.
What grade would you go with?
Probably eighth grade. I mean, if they were interested in it, but maybe even six like, I think it would kind of apply to everything. I would have to teach it a little differently for the younger ones. But I started kinda reading about the Trojan War and about the Greek gods and stuff when I was this age. So you can kind of spark an interest in it pretty young. Just depends.
Do you have any hobbies?
Yeah. So I actually play basketball outside of school in a league. I will never tell anybody what league so that y’all can’t stalk me. I go rock climbing, bouldering, and stuff. You know, I go cycling and biking and stuff. I’m pretty active, like, outdoors. I’m also a secret nerd so I have, like, Legos. Not to like a Mr. Addington level, but I do build, like, smaller sets. And I have a cat. So he takes up a lot of my time. And then I’m also a very big video game person. So I’m really like, if I’m not at a game, like, outside with friends, I’m probably at home with my cat playing on my Switch or, like, my PlayStation or something.
What games would you recommend?
I’m playing Spider-Man Miles Morales right now and Spider-Man 2 and I’m really enjoying those. I have a really bad habit of buying the new game when it comes out and then starting it and not finishing it. So I have, like, probably like 10 unfinished games that I’m just cycling through. I really like Ghost of Tsushima, Red Dead Redemption; Cowboys, love that. I’m kind of an open world, let me explore type type of gamer. I’m not like a Call of Duty, Minecraft, what’s the other one? (Fortnite.) Fortnite. Yeah. No. I can’t do that. I’m like, I tried Call of Duty and I tried to go online with people, and I died in, like, the first ten seconds. So I can’t do all that.
What’s your cat’s name?
His name is Castor, like Castor and Pollux who’s, like, a Greek and Roman figure. Yeah. He’s a big orange boy. He’s thirteen pounds. He’s pretty big. I had him since he was a baby, since he was three months old. And he’s almost six now. So, yeah. We’re just chilling at home.
What’s your favorite thing to do with your classes?
I obviously really love teaching basketball. That’s my thing. Like, I’ve been playing basketball for twenty-something years now. So when it’s basketball time, I’m like, I don’t need a lesson plan. I don’t need anybody’s help. I don’t need a video. Like, I got this I can teach it with my eyes closed. So I really like that. I also when I teach like a lesson so like I’ll teach a sport like badminton and then we’ll have like a structured choice day where you can kinda choose what sport you wanna choose, or choose what sport you wanna play. And people come up and they’re like, we wanna play badminton. I’m like, ‘That’s cool. I taught you how to do that.’ So I really enjoy like when we have some choice days, like, the few that we have because it kind of it shows me, like, yeah. Some of these kids actually did, like, what they learned. Or, like, I have a lot of kids now that are like, ‘Let’s play pickleball!’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, great.’ So, yeah, choice days are always fun.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
Yeah. I mean, I’m always pushing for more people to join sports, I feel like it’s the best way to make friends, learn how to, like, work hard, teamwork, that kind of thing, build the camaraderie in your community. So if y’all are even a little hesitant, you should just come out to a practice and see what it’s like to come out to a trial, or come to a game and kinda see what it’s all about so that you can kinda see the finished product. Because there’s there’s something to be said when you’re working with the same group of people for, like, eight or nine weeks, and you’re, like, putting in a lot of work, and then you kinda see the finished product. Like, it it feels really good. Even if you, like, lose, it feels like a win. Right? So, yeah. I mean, just come out and support whenever you want, whenever you can. It’s the last thing.
