After a long year in the classroom, many teachers are as eager for summer as their students.
Yet there will be no brain drain for Sarah Cook — and that’s just the way she wants it. She’s looking forward to teaching summer school and sharing her passion for the joy of reading with more youngsters. Before she knows it, another school year will be upon her at George Kelly Elementary School in Tracy.
With 34 years of inspiring kids and grading papers, Cook is ready for more. Her unstoppable enthusiasm is what made her the perfect choice as San Joaquin County Teacher of the Year.
“Mrs. Cook creates a warm, inclusive classroom where every student feels safe and valued. She uses engaging strategies that spark curiosity and make learning meaningful, ensuring students are active participants in their education,” Kelly Elementary’s principal, Brittani Ryan, wrote in nominating the second grade teacher for the coveted award that crosses multiple school districts.
Cook not only teaches, but looks forward to continuing her own learning. She recently finished a two-year nationwide course, Language Essentials for Teachers of Reading and Spelling, or LETRS, through the county Office of Education. The program explores how the brain processes language to help teachers understand how kids learn.
“The neuroscience shows that kids need to be able to phonetically decode words and really use that as a basis of reading,” Cook said.
Her greatest joy in teaching comes in watching kids develop, achieving that next step or grasping they can solve problems on their own. She recalled one student who came to her during an assessment, an assignment intended to let a teacher gain insight into whether a pupil is absorbing what they are being taught. The boy asked for help, and she reluctantly had to explain that she couldn’t offer guidance. She implored him to think through the problem. He was clearly filled with worry.
“All of a sudden, you see the smile,” she said. “He looks up and he goes, ‘Oh, I can read this by myself.’ “
Fostering a love of reading isn’t as easy as it used to be. In the digital age, parents give handheld computers to kids. The devices are used from an early age, and children can spend hours staring at the screen.
But Cook is determined to show the printed page can be every bit as engaging as a YouTube video.
“The habit of reading has fallen off for a lot of people. And I think what we don’t always realize that it has to be something that is built up and encouraged,” she said. “It’s like, hey, if you don’t like this book, try something else.”
Cook works toward that encouragement by making reading a social event. Kids read on their own, but they also share what they’ve read.
She starts the school year with picture books such as “The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister. By the end of the year, she has her students plunging into chapter books. She’ll hook them on interesting series such as the chronicles of “Ivy & Bean” by Annie Barrows or the “Ready, Freddy!” series by Abby Klein. The approach encourages her freshly minted readers to get their hands on successive books.
She even created an in-classroom book club. Students choose a tome and read at home for a week. Then they come back and hold a book club meeting with classmates. They take turns being the moderator for the discussions.
“Of course, we always have snacks because who would want to go to a book club with no snacks,” Cook quipped. “It becomes something that the kids absolutely look forward to.”
And this Teacher of the Year doesn’t let up when summer arrives.
She sends her soon-to-be third graders home with an activity board. They check off squares when they accomplish each task — reading in different settings or unusual ways. It might be “read to your pet.” Or “make a fort and read in it.” And, of course, visit a public library.
She also gives them a book and a T-shirt. This year, the tee was printed with a line from the song her class sings every morning, American Authors’ “Best Day of My Life.”
It could be her motto: “All the possibilities, no limits, just epiphanies.”