For The Love Of Children
Kindergarten Teacher Looks Back on Career
by Jim Evans

Four kindergarten grades at the Barnett Elementary School presented their thank you gift. A quilt made by parent Heather Aught who assembled student patches displaying their appreciation for the CDF Fire Fighters. Left to right: Teacher Carolyn Cook, Kathy Stoody, Ian Cirillo, Heather and Marley Aught, CDF Captain Dave Hypes, Todd Rausser, Nick Clements, Robert Peterson, Colton Stoody, Smatha Aught.

Carolyn Cook’s parents always spoke very highly of the teaching profession when she was growing up, and she knew from the time she was a youngster that she wanted to be a teacher.

"I’ve just always loved children," Cook said at her home in Ramona. Although officially retired as a kindergarten teacher from Barnett Elementary School since January, Cook is continuing to teach on contract through the end of the school year.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Cook graduated from the University of Hawaii and accepted her first teaching position at Thomas Moffitt Elementary School in the Norwalk/La Mirada School District. Although she taught kindergarten through fourth-grade levels during her 33-year career, Cook focused on kindergarten, where she has taught "everything from manners to math and social science."

She also worked extensively with The California Arts Project, developing the "all subjects" curriculum for elementary school teachers and on a similar pilot project at UCLA.

Her most memorable experience in teaching?

"There are too many to mention," Cook said, "but the experience of teaching the children of some of my former students has been particularly gratifying, and it’s always nice when they come back to visit."

Both of Cook’s children — son Robert D. Cook and daughter Shawn Cook — graduated from Ramona High School. Like many in her profession, Cook married a teacher (it must be something in the water). Her husband Robert C. Cook taught special education in the Ramona school district until he retired.

One of Cook’s first priorities in her retirement is to travel.

"My husband and I will be driving to the East Coast in the fall to see the leaves change with the seasons," she said. "It’s something we have always wanted to see. And we will probably visit some of his relatives in Missouri and visit my relatives in Hawaii too."

Cook also plans to pursue some of her hobbies in retirement. "I’ve dabbled in different things over the years like macrame, crochet and stained glass — and I would like to learn how to paint — and Robert enjoys reading and doing crossword puzzles, so now we will have more time to devote to all of these fun things."

For 33 years, Cook has dedicated her life to the education of children in their earliest, most formative years. She can look back, knowing she has made a difference in the lives of at least two generations of children. It must be a good feeling.