Dawnis Guevara, head coach for the women’s volleyball team at De Anza College wants to help students become healthier and get in better shape.
“The students here are phenomenal,” says Guevara. She enjoys the rush of motivated students each quarter, eager to attend classes and achieve their best.
Guevara, a fulltime instructor in physical education has plenty of experience. As a student at San Jose State University, she received a full scholarship, where she set records for digs and kills in volleyball. After graduating, she played professional volleyball with the San Jose Storm for three years.
Guevara respects the unity aspect of the sport. “You can’t get around the fact that you have to play as a team in order to be professional at it,” she says.
For nine years, Guevara has coached a winning De Anza women’s volleyball team. Not only did she take the De Anza Dons to the playoffs each year, but the team won seven conferences and took second place the remaining two years.
In addition to volleyball, Guevara teaches aerobics, yoga, and the orientation to the Lifetime Fitness Center class, and has served on the Academic Senate committee representing the physical education division for four years.
When she’s not playing volleyball, her favorite thing to do during time off is spending time with her husband and their two children.
She describes herself as a positive, upbeat instructor who wants to make her classes fun. She talks positively to students and emphasizes what they do right, rather than wrong.
“Students many times don’t think they can do things physically,” says Guevara. “Seeing people getting in better shape and get healthier is really, really fun and enjoyable.”