Hope Brooks was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Growing up in an Italian cultural background, she attended Catholic high school where she joined the orchestra and dedicated her after school hours to playing the clarinet. Upon graduation, she ranked second in her class, and received the Latin award. Hope attended college at St. John’s University, which granted her a full four-year scholarship. Here she entered in the Honors Program and pursued a career in elementary education.
After receiving her B.S. in Elementary Education in 1967, she continued
her studies at the City University of New York, and earned her Master’s Degree in 1973. Her certifications include: Elementary School Teacher, grades K-8 (NY/NJ/NYC), Teacher of the Emotionally Handicapped (NYC), Teacher of Vacation Day Camp (NYC), Standard Certificate as Teacher of Students with Disabilities (NJ).
As a teacher, Hope dedicated thirty-eight years of her professional life to educating young children. She taught all levels of ability, including gifted children and children with special needs, in both New York and New Jersey. Her experience includes teaching primary grades, basic skills, resource room, and the emotionally handicapped. For one year, she became the crisis intervention teacher for those students with severe emotional problems. Helping children to read, learn, and improve their potential became her source of fulfillment.
Upon retiring from her teaching career in 2008, Hope pursued a new interest in writing. Her first published work, a short story entitled Megan’s Story, was published on the website of the National Alliance of Mental Illness on May 5, 2012. As time passed, Hope held a dream within her, to write her story and share it with the world. A Mother’s Survival: Finding Balance Through the Storms is a memoir of her professional and personal life, and the challenges that confronted her. She hopes that her life’s experiences will help others make better choices, and give the message that despite the obstacles, we must never give up. There is always hope.