{"id":12505,"date":"2025-06-16T09:19:02","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T14:19:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=12505"},"modified":"2025-06-16T09:19:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T14:19:02","slug":"uw-stevens-point-graduate-joins-family-pointer-and-teaching-legacy","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/uw-stevens-point-graduate-joins-family-pointer-and-teaching-legacy\/","title":{"rendered":"UW-Stevens Point graduate joins family Pointer and teaching legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>
Perry and Stephanie Cook at the May 2025 commencement ceremony, where Perry was able to present his daughter with her diploma.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stephanie Cook graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday, May 17, as a fifth-generation Pointer.<\/p>\n

Earning a Master of Science in\u00a0Education<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0as well as her teaching certification, Cook is following in the footsteps of her father, Perry Cook \u201983, a UW-Stevens Point professor of education and director of the university\u2019s\u00a0Harju Center for Opportunities in Education<\/strong><\/a>. Her grandparents, Ray \u201955 and Nancy Cook \u201955, her great-grandmother, Marlea Thayer Cook \u201930s, and step-great-great-grandmother, Lloyd Ravy Cook \u201932, were all UWSP graduates, in addition to several of her aunts, uncles and cousins.<\/p>\n

Stephanie is also a fifth-generation teacher. Lloyd and Marlea taught in one-room schools near Unity and Wisconsin Rapids for many years, Ray at P.J. Jacobs High School and Nancy at McDill Elementary in Stevens Point. Perry taught science, then earned a Ph.D. at UW-Madison before returning to UW-Stevens Point in 1994.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is special to be able to follow in my family\u2019s footsteps and know I\u2019m taking the same courses and having the same experiences,\u201d said Stephanie.<\/p>\n

Even with the family legacy, teaching was not the initial plan for either Perry or Stephanie.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew what sacrifices my parents had to make as teachers,\u201d Perry said of choosing his career path. \u201cHowever, my sister, Cindy, challenged me to think about becoming a science teacher. She told me that teaching was a hard job, but the upsides were amazing \u2013 the ability to build positive opportunities into young lives and their families. My first teaching job was as a science department chair at Arrowhead Christian Academy in Redlands, Calif., I never looked back.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he fell in love with teaching and realized he could have an even bigger impact by getting a Ph.D. to become a teacher of teachers.\u202fToday he leads courses in science teaching methods at UWSP and encourages diverse and first-generation elementary education teachers in rural education as part of the Harju Center.<\/p>\n

Stephanie earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in marketing and graphic design and began working as a graphic designer. Looking for a change, she began substitute teaching. After four months she decided she wanted to go back to school for her teaching certificate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI loved school, and education has always been in our family,\u201d said Stephanie. \u201cAfter long-term subbing, I felt like I was making a difference in the lives of my students, and I liked interacting with both children and adults and helping people learn and grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stephanie
Stephanie Cook in her student teaching classroom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stephanie chose UW-Stevens Point because of the\u00a0Elementary Education Accelerated Teacher Licensure Certification<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0program, which allows those with a bachelor\u2019s degree to earn both a teaching certificate and a master\u2019s degree in education in two years. Ironically, it was her dad who helped develop it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal of the program was to meet the needs of those wanting to teach while offering the benefit of adding a master\u2019s degree, which offers higher salaries,\u201d said Perry. \u201cIt\u2019s the best of both worlds. It also offers a broad K-9 license that was the first of the Universities of Wisconsin to be certified by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program is very well run,\u201d said Stephanie. \u201cThe professors are knowledgeable and have the right tools to create teachers who will do well in the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perry shared his philosophy for UWSP\u2019s School of Education. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for students who have the heart for working with young people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s the most important thing. We can teach everything else, but what we can\u2019t teach is the heart. We look for hearts on, hands on, heads on, in that order.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of his favorite memories over the past three decades at UWSP has been supervising student teachers in the science classroom his father taught in for his first job at P.J. Jacobs High School.\u202f\u201cI also have had the privilege to serve as the faculty advisor for CRU for the past 31 years, an interdenominational student organization on campus, that I was a part of as a student while at UWSP,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Perry
Perry Cook, working in a classroom with elementary education students, has taught and led programs at UW-Stevens Point for more than 30 years.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He feels very blessed to see his daughter continue the family legacy of teaching. His wife, Jean, is an instructor at Mid-State Technical College, so Stephanie grew up listening to them talk around the dinner table about what makes good teaching, classroom management and problem solving in creative and positive ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very few careers in the world where you make a difference every single day in the lives of others,\u201d said Perry. \u201cAs a teacher you are providing a safe learning environment and a home away from home for many of the children and young adults you teach.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing it will make a difference in their lives, encouraging them, inspiring them and have a positive impact \u2013 that is what draws you to teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stephanie is currently seeking a position within the La Crosse and Onalaska school districts, hoping to teach kindergarten, first or second grade. She looks forward to carrying on the family teaching legacy and making a lasting impact in the classroom.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it\u2019s the small wins,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen you see that something has clicked for a student, or even if they just try something new, it\u2019s valuable and exciting as an educator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Written by UW-Stevens Point<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwsp.edu\/news\/cook-family-teaching-legacy-2025\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephanie Cook graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point on Saturday, May 17, as a fifth-generation Pointer. Earning a Master of Science in\u00a0Education\u00a0as well as her teaching certification, Cook is following in the footsteps of her father, Perry Cook \u201983, a UW-Stevens Point professor of education and director of the university\u2019s\u00a0Harju Center for Opportunities in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":12508,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[95],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-12505","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-stevens-point"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/12505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12508"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=12505"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=12505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}