I woke up to this and a number of dedicated facebook statuses this morning. RIP Mr. Cooper, and countless reactions similar to my own - Really? FALLSTON'S Mr. Cooper? I sort of sat at the computer screen blankly, a few tears on my face, things like this are such a shock.
I never actually had Mr. Cooper, but he was a part of the dynamic team that made up the Fallston High School English faculty. I didn't like much about high school, but I always enjoyed the conversations I had with the faculty when they all got together in one of my teacher's classrooms. He had an incredible sense of humor and such a genuine personality. He left the school in 2002 to teach at a school in England. He was supposed to stay for two years, but fell in love with the school and decided to stay. In the first article about his death, it says he was believed to be American. I think that, more than anything else, really got me.
My education was made what it was because of the teachers I had along the way. My high school was a rough place - not because of violence or bullies - but because of cliques and trends. There were a lot of kids in a lot of designer clothing that gave you a hard time if you weren't, but the teachers, namely the ones in the English cluster, were amazing. When I went back to visit after I graduated, I was frequently asked when I was going to give in and start a program for English education. When I envision my perfect classroom - so many aspects of their teaching enters into my mind. Those teachers are the reason I want to teach high school English.
At the end of the day, though, those teachers didn't treat us like high schoolers - they treated us like people. We had "big people" conversations with them, we had opinions and tastes in music and popular culture. We liked books, we didn't like books, we thought books were boring. All of these things were open for discussion, and no one told us not to think anything.
I've spent a good portion of today reading the memorial messages to Mr. Cooper on various facebook groups, leaving a few of my own. His U.K. students and his U.S. students all had the same sentiments - he was a great person and a wonderful teacher. He will be missed by a slew of international colleagues and students and has touched students on both sides of the Atlantic. So few people can be able to leave that sort of legacy.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Cooper.
4 comments:
I'm sorry for your and everyone else's loss. Good teachers are hard to find. I only met once or twice in my life.
High school is way hard sometimes. I wasn't really the popular one too, and some kids decided to remind me that constantly. Funny how they're all being a bunch of nice suck ups now. Well I know better. :(
I'm sorry for your and everyone else's loss. Good teachers are hard to find. I only met once or twice in my life.
High school is way hard sometimes. I wasn't really the popular one too, and some kids decided to remind me that constantly. Funny how they're all being a bunch of nice suck ups now. Well I know better. :(
It's amazing what an impact a really wonderful teacher can have on so many people.
What a beautiful photo!
@insomniaclolita Thanks for the condolences, it's funny, I think I'm realizing now just how much I learned in high school. Better late than never.
@Sarah Thanks, almost every memorial message said something about his smile and this picture was posted on one of the facebook groups. I thought it was fitting.
Post a Comment