Alphonso Powell has taken on many titles since he began working at Amador Valley High School last year. They include coordinator of operations, school administrator, athletic director, mentor, and friend. 

Powell has a lot of experience juggling many responsibilities. At the start of his career as a high school coach, he was already carrying out the duties of an athletic director. People came to Powell when things needed to get done.

“When I was a high school coach, they didn’t have an athletic director position. All those duties fell on me, so I hired coaches when they were needed and organized programs when there was no one else to do it,” said Powell. 

Powell worked as a high school coach for five years before becoming an athletic director, which has been his position for the past 10 years. He quit his job at California High last year to take a position at Amador Valley. 

“I love Amador. Sometimes you leave a place for something better and it ends up not being worth what you left for. But I’m glad that wasn’t the case with Amador,” said Powell. 

Powell’s extensive experience has made him a strong asset to the school. His favorite part about the job is connecting with kids around programs they enjoy and helping them learn life skills through his work. 

“School is a vehicle for students to prepare for life. But part of learning and getting ready for life is learning how to connect with people, because people are always going to be a resource to help you,” said Powell. 

The most important lesson he thinks students should learn is how to deal with failure. In his work, he teaches kids that failure is a part of life and a starting point for improvement.  

“Even in a perfect season, you’re going to see failure in athletics. Most of our teams are going to take a loss, but it’s how you respond that’s important. Athletics makes you use failure as data. That’s why my favorite job at this school is an athletic director,” said Powell.  

Due to Amador’s strict academic policies for athletes in the Tri-Valley, Powell works closely with many athletes who are struggling academically so they can continue playing their sport. 

“Alphonso is great, he’s helped me in many ways. He’s always on the field and around for when I need help or support,” said Amador Valley athlete Scott Garman (‘23). 

Both his coworkers and the kids he works with agree that Powell has made a big impact on the school since joining the staff last year. His constant encouragement and support have helped guide many students through high school and beyond. 

“Alphonso is very dedicated to athletics and he has a very good energy. He comes in with a lot of experience in his previous roles, and he’s made a big difference for Amador students,” said coworker Anjali Dayal.