HUMBOLDT — Kristen Cook, a second grade teacher at Humboldt Elementary School, ignored the numerous emails last fall about a certain teachers award, assuming they were spam.
Then one day she opened one of the messages only to see that Wendy Froggate, district nurse, had nominated her for a Sanford Teacher Award, including an essay.
Cook recently learned she had won the $10,000 Sanford Teacher Award, representing Kansas.
“I’m still in shock,” she said.
THE NATIONAL University System-Sanford Teacher Award recognizes teachers across the country who demonstrate inspirational teaching practices and support social-emotional learning, according to Dr. Michael R. Cunningham, chancellor of the National University System. The award was established in the name of philanthropist T. Denny Sanford.
Cook learned of her success during a recent Zoom call — that she almost missed.
Cook was headed to a softball game on June 18 when HES principal Staci Hudlin called to say, “You might want to tune in.”
“I got to thinking it might be just for the teachers from Kansas, or maybe the finalists,” Cook said.
Instead, each state’s winner was on the call to learn that they had won the prestigious award.
“Everyone started crying. It was very unexpected,” Cook said.
The winners then discussed how they have adapted to the remote learning programs caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Cook, participating in the call while in her car, shared her efforts to keep in touch with students, including going to the homes of a few who were struggling and needed extra encouragement. “You have to do whatever you can to keep that connection with every kid in your class,” she said. “For them to know you still cared for them, even though you weren’t seeing them every day, was so important.”
In a visit with the Register, Cook talked of visiting a child who had just gotten a trampoline and asked her to watch him jump on it. During a normal day in school, the student would have told her all about it.
“But on a Zoom call, you don’t get as much information as you would if you were in class all day.”
“We tried to social distance,” she said of the students she visited. “But I did get some hugs.”
During a normal school year, Cook would run a mock zoo, encouraging children to research and present facts on different animals. She created a French Market where students have responsibility for running the store. Students sell bread and cheese, learn to manage money, count in French, and practice addition and subtraction. They also walk down the store’s fashion runway.
COOK EXPECTS she will use some of the award money for something fun for her classroom — “I’m a teacher. I can’t NOT spend something on my classroom.” — but she’s hoping to use most of the money to take her family on a vacation when the pandemic subsides.
