Sandra Cook: Lessons she taught, hearts she changed
Sandra Cook, a beloved Rockledge math instructor who was killed by gunshot, is remembered by students as a caring mentor.
Sandra Cook: Lessons she taught, hearts she changed Sandra Cook, a beloved Rockledge math instructor who was killed by gunshot, is remembered by students as a caring mentor. Check out this story on floridatoday.com: http://on.flatoday.com/1SYE7OG
Ilana Kowarski and Chris Bonanno, Florida Today Published 5:31 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2016 | Updated 6:18 p.m. ET Feb. 3, 2016
Students at Rockledge High School gathered to remember their teacher, Sandra Cook, who was found shot to death in her home in Melbourne. Wochit
A memorial has been set up under a large oak tree in the courtyard of Rockledge High School for beloved Rockledge High teacher of the year Sandra Cook. Students gathered by the tree during their lunch hour, adding flowers, notes, artwork and balloons to the memorial. (Photo: MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY)Buy Photo
It wasn't unusual for Rockledge High math teacher Sandra Cook to text or call a student to check in on how they were doing – and not only with their classes but how they were doing in general, with life.
She knew teenage years could be tough, and she cared.
And when her students struggled academically, she tutored them, even if she had to do it on her own time. When Mrs. Cook, as her students knew her, passed someone in the hall, she'd say hello by name.
She was that kind of teacher, which is why Cook's death – police say she was shot to death by her estranged husband Sunday – has hit this community so hard. Many students described Cook as their "second mom" and a "hero."
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Photos: Memorial at Rockledge High for Sandra Cook
A memorial was set up under a large oak tree in the courtyard of Rockledge High School for beloved Rockledge High teacher of the year Sandra Cook. She was killed by her estranged husband last week. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY
A memorial for slain teacher Sandra Cook is seen in the Rockledge High courtyard on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016. Students gathered by the tree during their lunch hour. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY
A memorial has been set up under a large oak tree in the courtyard of Rockledge High School for beloved Rockledge High teacher of the year Sandra Cook. Students gathered by the tree during their lunch hour, adding flowers, notes, artwork and balloons to the memorial. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY
Rockledge High teacher Sandra Cook was shot and killed by her husband in her home in early 2016. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY
A memorial has been set up under a large oak tree in the courtyard of Rockledge High School for beloved Rockledge High teacher of the year Sandra Cook. Students gathered by the tree during their lunch hour, adding flowers, notes, artwork and balloons to the memorial. Assistant principal Terri Kulaga Green comforts a sad student. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY
Space Coast Jr. / Sr. High student Cassie Ruiz leads a prayer circle for the slain teacher at the school. Courtesy Shelley Ruiz
Lance Scott, a 10th grade student at Rockledge High, said that it was no surprise that Cook was Rockledge High's "Teacher of the Year" and a finalist for the countywide prize. "She was a great, generous, kind person that made sure everyone was taken care of," he said.
Cook, 54, had filed for divorce from Ricky Cook in January, noting in her divorce petition that she was frightened of him. Police said their investigation suggests that Ricky Cook broke into the home the couple had once shared and attacked Sandra Cook in her bed Sunday night. Police said at that point, he shot and killed her and then killed himself.
Cook had worked for Brevard Public Schools for 19 years, spending the last three at Rockledge High. She was pursuing a doctorate in instructional leadership, and had once served as an English teacher at Kennedy Middle.
Cook's students say she was more than a teacher to them; she was also their mentor, confidante, and friend.
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Scott hadn't actually taken a class with Cook. But the 10th grader said she stopped to talk to him one day when he was putting up signs in a school hallway, and there was an immediate connection. He felt Cook was someone he could trust.
Scott, 15, started meeting Cook daily to "talk about life." They discussed books and poems, including what he said was her favorite poem, "The Dash" by Linda Ellis.
It begins like this, "​I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend. He referred to the dates on the tombstone from the beginning to the end. /He noted that first came the date of birth and spoke the following date with tears, /But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years. For that dash represents all the time that they spent alive on earth. /And now only those who loved them know what that little line is worth."
Rockledge High School teacher Sandra Cook was found dead in her home with the body a man who has not yet been identified. Both were shot. Police are not pursuing additional suspects. Posted Feb. 1, 2016 Wochit
According to Scott, Cook regularly cited that poem in her conversations with him, and told him to "make that dash count," and live life with courage. He now has her words taped onto his bathroom mirror.
"I would say that she was the kind of person who was selfless and cared about others before herself," he said. "She cared a lot about her students. She's one of the nicest people I've ever met."
Delaney Hickey, a Rockledge High graduate from its Class of 2014, told a similar story in an email she wrote FLORIDA TODAY.
"There are many things that I will remember about Mrs.Cook," Hickey said. "She was my high school teacher, my tutor in college, and most of all a dear friend. I have many memories, but most of them are of the many hours we sat at my kitchen counter where she always told me, 'We can do this. I didn't say you were going to like it, but we can do it. Have a good math attitude.' No matter how long her day or how tired I know she must have been, she always had a smile and cared so much about my success."
Death of popular Rockledge teacher a shock
Michael Harris, 17, a Rockledge High junior from Port St. John, said that Cook was the kind of teacher who could motivate students like himself, because it was clear that "she really cared."
He said, "When she asked you how you were, she wanted to know overall, how you were as a person."
Harris said he always looked forward to Cook's math class. Cook taught him character, not just math, he said, and when he and his classmates learned that Cook had died, they were overwhelmed with grief.
"Everyone just broke down," he said. "People that I've never seen cry cried that day."
Savannah Kemble, a junior at Rockledge High, said Cook helped build her self-confidence.
Sandra Cook of Rockledge High finalist for 2016 teacher of the year. (Photo: Craig Rubadoux/FLORIDA TODAY)
"She believed in me to the point that with time I even began to believe in myself," Kemble wrote in an email. "She knew how to teach me in a way that I could actually learn. For the first time in my life, I had a teacher who made me love math, who made me believe I could do anything, convinced me that I was smart and that I could do anything. She would tell me if I needed anything she was there and she meant it."
When Cook was nominated for Brevard County's 2016 "Teacher of the Year" prize, Cook wrote an essay, explaining how and why she taught. Her reason was simple: her students.
"In a word, what I love about teaching is students!" she wrote. "Making connections and building effective relationships with the young adults in my classroom is not 'what I do,' it is 'who I am.' The future of the world sits in my classroom every day – and I strive to instill in my students the importance of enthusiasm for and dedication to the process of lifelong learning. I teach them critical thinking skills that apply not only to math, but to their lives as a whole. The love and joy behind my teaching is the strongest impression I can leave with my students; I want my students to find love and joy in their interests, too.... I understand that my smile is my logo, my personality is my business card, and how I leave others feeling after having an experience with me is my trademark."
Contact Kowarski at 321-242-3640 or ikowarski@floridatoday.com. Follow her on Twitter @IlanaKowarski.
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