Jodi Mastrodonato

Mastro, as she is affectionately referred to by both students and staff, has excelled at many different sports throughout her life. Figure skating was her first activity, before she branched into playing soccer, volleyball, basketball, track and field and badminton. While in high-school she won the B.C. doubles championship in badminton, at fourteen with childhood friend Carla Sundberg. 

Playing a variety of sports in high-school, she received “Athlete of the Year” from Grade 8 to 12. Mastro’s passion for sports continued at VIU (Nanaimo) as she was a member of the varsity soccer, volleyball, basketball and futsal teams. She was named “Female Athlete of the Year” before departing to UVIC.

Mastro knew from an early age that she wanted to be a P.E teacher. “I wanted to stay involved with athletics and convey my skills, knowledge and passion about different sports to youth. When I was in Grade 12, I told my P.E. teacher Mr. Paul, that I was going to come back and take his job. Well, I am back and I did,” said Mastro.

Although she has taught for 24 years at three different Powell River schools, she still thinks of herself as being one of the youngest on staff at Brooks. “Age is just a number.”

Mastro graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Education degree with a double major in English and P.E from the University of Victoria. She has a desire for teaching both English and P.E. “I like teaching English 10 because of the course content and what I like about P.E. is that I can wear sporty clothes to work and be both indoors and out and I engage in activities all day.” Having a fetish for shorts, Mastro admits to owning a lot! "You can never have too many shorts! I have shorts for every occasion,” she laughed.

At the start of her career Mastro coached volleyball, soccer and basketball for many years. Her coaching career shifted from school to the community, as she has been and continues to be actively involved in organizing the Powell River Female Hockey Program and she coaches at all levels including 4-5 year olds up to Grade 12 players.

In terms of role models, Mastro lists her parents, family and a variety of star athletes from her childhood, like Michael Jordan, Mario Lemieux and Donovan Bailey. Lemieux inspired Mastro to start playing hockey when she was 24! She is a member of the local Ice Cats women’s hockey team and also officiates minor hockey.

Mastro loves adventures like zip-lining and rollercoasters and she also likes to spend time outdoors, fishing, hiking, wakeboarding and quadding with her family. When things return to normal, Mastro is looking forward to seeing her oldest son Keaton, play NCAA hockey in Buffalo, New York. She is also excited about taking her youngest son, Cohen on a grad trip. She hopes to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary by taking a trip with her husband Mike to Greece and Italy to see the ancient Olympic ruins and float down the Grand Canal.

Her advice to others is: “Write your own book! Don’t conform to others and be true to yourself. Have no regrets and just do what makes you happy!”

She describes herself as someone with a good sense of humour who likes to have fun. In everything she does, Mastro always give it her best, leaving everything on the field, ice or in the classroom.