Cook wasn’t always a teacher: He got his start in the STEM fields, specifically mechanical engineering, followed by economics. Then, he pivoted to the film industry after college.
“I was having a blast in the film industry… [but] I was aging in dog years,” Cook said.
None of these paths were the right fit, and it wasn’t until a two-month hiatus in Europe that he discovered his calling.
“I was standing on the beaches of Normandy… in the same spot my grandfather probably stood decades before I did, and I got the bug for wanting to teach history,” Cook said. “I was like ‘I think I can make history interesting to students.’”
Cook followed through with this promise and applied his entertainment knowledge to the classroom. He implements tools to keep his students engaged, including funny clips at the beginning of class and a card-based reward system for participation.
“I like how Mr. Cook teaches,” sophomore Ian Scherzay said. “I always end up doing good on the tests without having to study.”
This school year, Cook is teaching World History Honors, APUSH and CP Economics, which allows him to connect with a large portion of the school.
“The man is amazing. A perfect mix of the hilarity of Weird Al and the cool vibes of Jim Morrison,” senior Dean Fronk said.
His classroom creates an environment of both fun and learning, driven by his passion for serving the community.
“I want to give to society more than I want to take from it,” Cook said. “[Teaching] is my way of contributing.”
Cook also runs four different clubs at OPHS. He serves as the adviser for the Film Club, GeoLocator Club and Hindu Yuva Club. He also created the karaoke club widely known as “Cook Concert.” Cook established the karaoke club this school year to combat the excessive phone usage he saw during lunch.
“If I’m going to complain about something I want to offer a solution,” Cook said. “I want to bring students to a location where they can do something that is serving a purpose of creativity.”
All of these different avenues allow Cook to connect with the student body, and to have a lasting impact on the students he teaches.
“For example, I had one student who was having a real rough time in high school and I would help this student often… this student is now a post-secondary grad student in psychology that is helping dozens of people with the stuff she was going through,” Cook said.
He firmly believes in the cycle of good deeds, which drives how he interacts with the world.
“If I’ve had close to 2500 students in my life and only 500 of them did that very same thing, then what I’ve done becomes bigger than me,” Cook said.
