Three new teachers on Cooper Elementary staff
Three new teachers at Cooper Elementary School come from neighboring districts.
Peggy Jones-Poe is the new Special Education lead teacher. She moved to the Bentonville district from Eureka Springs, partly because of the reputation of the surrounding community.
“I like the community involvement,” she said.
Jones-Poe is a native of Dallas and raised her children in the Frisco, Texas, area. When her children went to school, she went back to college. She was so impressed by her children’s school experience that she wanted to be a part of it for other children. She retired early to care for her mother, then returned to education when a friend in Eureka Springs recruited her.
As lead teacher, her job is to help the other special-education teachers; she loves that challenge.
“The goal is (to) find the least-restrictive environment for each student,” she explained.
“I like to teach children who find it hard to learn,” she said. She has 20 years’ experience in the classroom. She ran an English as a Second Language program for six years.
Another advantage of the Bentonville district is its proximity to the regional airport. Jones-Poe has children and grandchildren living in Texas.
When she has free time, she often stays close to home; knitting, crocheting, reading and walking.
Whitney Hackmann will teach third grade at Cooper this year. She’s moving from the Springdale School District, where she taught for six years. Her husband got a job in Bentonville, so she was happy to move her young family closer to his job.
Hackmann, who was raised in Rogers, received her masters in teaching from the University of Arkansas. She knew she wanted be a teacher since she was in second grade. Second- and third-graders are her favorite age to teach.
“They’re independent but they still love you and want to be in school,” she explained.
With a new baby at home, Hackmann said she doesn’t have much free time, but she and her husband love Razorbacks football games. They enjoy shopping at the Farmer’s Market and trying new restaurants.
Jordan Bright, who will be teaching second grade, did not always want to be in education.
Bright, who grew up in Springfield, Mo., went to the College of the Ozarks intending to major in premed. When he realized that medicine wasn’t what he wanted to do, he looked around for something else. As a major, education allowed him to explore many different interests.
“I’ve always loved kids,” he said, so he chose an emphasis in early childhood education.
A teacher he remembers from his own early years made his decision easy. When she asked the class where they would like to go on a field trip, first-grader Bright replied Africa. The teacher spent the weekend transforming her room into Africa and made each student return a signed permission slip for the trip.
Last year he taught first grade in the Rogers School District. He has also taught kindergarten. But he lives in Bella Vista and his son was attending Cooper last year. He wanted to be in the same school with his children.
He’s looking forward to his second-graders being more independent, because students that age are learning to read and write.
When he’s not at school, he might be teaching in Rwanda. Every other summer he visits a school he helped start in that country.
In Arkansas, he loves the outdoors and spends time canoeing, hiking and biking. He has three children aged 6, 4 and 2.