Edmond Memorial High School welcomed many new staff members this year, including a familiar face for several students. Jessica Cook, EMHS’s brand new freshmen counselor, has moved up with the freshmen from Cimarron Middle School to join the Bulldog family.
Cook has been teaching for nearly 14 years, starting out as a choir teacher at Classen School of Advanced Studies in Oklahoma City. After eight years, she moved to Central Middle School in Edmond Public Schools.
“I chose [to teach] choir because of my high school choir teacher, Stephania Abell,” Cook said.
She continued to teach choir at Central for three years before achieving her Master’s in Education in School Counseling at the University of Central Oklahoma in the spring of 2021. Upon receiving her master’s, she transferred to Cimarron Middle School as a counselor for two years before landing at EMHS.
“I started with these freshmen in seventh grade at Cimarron, so I already knew half of the kids that would be here,” Cook said. “And when I was at Central my last year, these freshmen kids were my sixth graders, so I also know a lot of them as well.”
Cook has a history with EMHS as well, which started with student teaching with former choir teachers Jan Smith and Becky Martin in the spring of 2010.
“I got to see Swine Week and all kinds of stuff that Memorial does, and I just fell in love with Memorial,” Cook said.
Cook has already had visitors from her time at Central and Cimarron and she hopes that her former students will come by her office to say hello throughout the school year.
“I love helping kids find where they belong, and I get to do that as a counselor: helping them build a schedule, helping them find their way, helping them find their people and helping them find where they belong,” Cook said.
In Cook’s unique situation, she knows many of the freshmen that she is working with, which has already helped her settle into her new position at EMHS. She is excited to continue building relationships with new and former students alike.
Contact Macey Thaxton at [email protected]
