Carol Ann Cook of Wapakoneta, a 1996 graduate of the Lake Campus of Wright State University with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, has returned to her alma mater to further her education. Cook is now seeking the master’s degree in special education offered at the Lake Campus.
Cook, teaching under a temporary certificate in the Allen County Severe Behavioral Handicapped (SBH) program, must complete a master’s degree and obtain a license to teach special education as a moderate to intensive intervention specialist in her new position.
“I really enjoy working with these junior high and high school students, and I think they enjoy working with me. My acting experiences and ‘warped’ sense of humor really help in dealing with these students. It keeps them off balance because they never know what to expect next from me. There is the one thing my students can always expect from me, however, and that’s fairness and consistency of discipline.” Carol explains her “acting experiences” as beginning when she was a child. She was in all the church and school plays during her elementary years and later took acting classes and voice lessons. She now works as one of the core members and scriptwriters with her church’s drama team.
Cook has recently been honored as the Lima News’ 2002-03 Teacher of the Year, awarded through the paper’s partnership with the Newspaper-In-Education (NIE) program. Cook has been involved with NIE since 2000, using the newspaper as part of her curriculum, both at the Alternative School and in her new position for SBH. “The best thing about NIE is it gets the kids to read, and I’ve noticed an increase in their vocabulary, reading comprehension, and awareness of current events as well.” Cook was the only NIE award recipient in Ohio. There were just 28 recipients across the country.
Prior to working in the SBH program, Carol substitute taught for awhile before being hired by the Allen County Schools to teach for its newly formed Alternative School. Cook’s educational experience includes holding associate degrees in geography and history from Wright State and an associate degree in business management, and she has taken some music education coursework.
In her “spare” time, Carol says she loves to read all kinds of books but notes, “I don’t get much chance to do that for pleasure anymore.” She enjoys working part-time in Macky’s Health Food Market in Wapakoneta. Carol also enjoys reading for area quiz and scholastic bowls including the Lake Campus’ annual senior and junior bowls and loves to watch movies - “just about any kind except horror.” Her daughter, Elizabeth, a junior in college, sometimes watches movies with her mom but says her mom has an “uncanny ability to watch the ‘boringest’ and stupidest movies in the world.”
Cook says she is “delighted to return to my alma mater for my master’s degree and to see the Lake Campus faculty and staff again who made my undergraduate experience so enjoyable.”
