Teachers vote for a campus teacher of the year. That teacher then moves on to compete for CISD secondary teacher of the year.

“I was very surprised,” Cook said. “I’ve been nominated for several years but I’ve never won, so it was really funny.”

Cook said she has a passion for helping her students figure out what they want to do with their career and help them figure out what their passion is.

“The PRO program was the most significant part of my career,” Cook said. “It started in August of 2009. It helps me to help my students and it gives them real world, hands on experience in a career field of their choice.”

Cook has been teaching business at Canyon for thirteen years and she is also the sponsor for BLT, or Business Leaders of Tomorrow.

“BLT members get opportunities to experience the world of work through job shadowing and they are able to network with industry professionals,” Cook said.

Cook said her classes are project based. and she brings in community business people to judge their work. She also teaches them soft skills as well.

“We have stock market, business plan, financial literacy, and virtual business simulation projects,” Cook said. “I also teach them soft skills, such as communication, presentation, teamwork, life, and employability skills.”

Cook said she feels that each student is unique.

“They may not be academically strong but they have their own unique talents and they will be successful with it.”

Cook said that students must go into today’s world with confidence and with tools to be successful and to fulfill their own passions, even though students may not be successful with the things they learn in her class.

“I don’t have a misconception that students will remember everything from my class,” Cook said. “I just hope they remember that they were treated respectfully and professionally and that I truly had their best interest at heart.”