Mr. Tyler Brake begins his career at Cherry Hill East

Many new teachers and staff were added to the long list of educators at Cherry Hill East.  Within this group of recently hired teachers is Mr. Tyler Brake, a new member of the English department. 

Brake, a Cherry Hill native and Cherry Hill West alumnus, is very familiar with the demographics and dynamics of this town and school environment. Before teaching, he worked at various Cherry Hill swim clubs, PJ Whelihan’s Pub + Restaurant. 

After graduating from West, he attended Clemson University for two years, and he attended Rutgers University for the next two en route to a master’s degree.

Brake decided to become an English teacher when he was a senior in high school, where he was inspired by his wrestling coach and his father, who was also a teacher.

“It’s funny, you know, they actually tried to steer me away from this job, but I decided to stick with it and I absolutely love it,” Brake said.   

In the classroom, Brake makes every effort to make his teaching style engaging for the average Cherry Hill teenager. 

“I try to tie in real-world connections and lessons to the books or prompts we read for this class; that is such an important life skill, so I am trying to help them draw these connections early,” Brake said.  He wants his lesson plans to impact his students well outside of his classroom. 

In addition to teaching, Brake also enjoys jiu jitsu, fly fishing, watching TV (most preferably sports), going backpacking, wrestling and hanging out with family and friends.  

The top goal on his bucket list is to visit all of the American national parks.Thus, it should come as no surprise that he loves all outdoors activities.  

“If I were not a teacher, I would probably have a job that deals with nature, probably a park ranger, or maybe even an environmental engineer,” said Brake. Outside of East, Brake coaches cross country and leads the students of Cherry Hill West on runs. 

However, Brake seems happy about the career choice he did make, and he is loving East so far. He describes all of his students as amazing and he absolutely loves the idea of his potentially having a lasting impression on some of his students. He also has high praise for the teachers with whom he works.   

“My colleagues are absolutely incredible.  They are all so educated and give me the best advice,” Brake said. “They have been super welcoming, which has taken a lot of stress off of me.” 

Brake is super excited for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year, and he cannot wait to see what his teaching career at Cherry Hill East holds.