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Published May 20, 2009 07:56 pm - BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Alma Cook was about to descend into the Grand Canyon with her husband, Paul, when she received a call on her cell phone. It was a former colleague, Vicki O’Neal, informing Cook that she had been accepted into the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame.
Retired Baxter Springs teacher selected for state hall of fame
By Roger McKinney
rmckinney@joplinglobe.com
BAXTER SPRINGS, Kan. — Alma Cook was about to descend into the Grand Canyon with her husband, Paul, when she received a call on her cell phone.
It was a former colleague, Vicki O’Neal, informing Cook that she had been accepted into the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame.
Cook said O’Neal had told her previously that she had submitted her name for the nomination.
“I just kind of put it out of my mind,” Cook said.
“I’m pretty proud of it,” she said after learning the news. “I’m a little surprised.”
Cook will be inducted during a June 6 ceremony at the hall in Dodge City.
Cook retired last year. She had taught first-graders at Lincoln Elementary School from 1972 to 2008. She taught second grade at the school for her first two years there. She began her career in Kansas City, Kan., where she taught third-graders for two years.
Her husband retired 10 years ago as principal of Baxter Springs High School. One of their sons, Phil Cook, is superintendent of the Carl Junction (Mo.) School District. Another son, Kenneth Cook, is a science teacher in Galena. Some of her nieces also are teachers.
“It kind of seems to be a family tradition,” Alma Cook said, while also noting that she was the first in the family to pursue a career in education.
O’Neal, who worked with Cook for 35 years, teaches second grade at Lincoln School.
“She was just a good role model for me and for our school district,” O’Neal said. “She was the kind of teacher every parent wants for their children.”
O’Neal said the school’s motto is: “Lincoln, where the love of learning begins.”
“She took that very seriously,” O’Neal said.
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