Meet Kristina Baker. Mrs. Baker has been a part of Cooper Elementary for several years. Up until this year, she served our school community as a special education paraprofessional (para). She was an incredible para who worked extremely well with students with special needs. Last year, I remember asking her if she ever had interest in becoming a licensed teacher. I know her teammates asked her often, too. Turns out, she was finalizing her Arkansas teaching license.
It was an easy call to hire Mrs. Baker as a special education teacher when the opportunity arose in the spring. We are thankful to have her full time on our licensed staff at Cooper. It is awesome to invest in your own people, and it is awesome for Mrs. Baker to serve our students in a larger capacity. I often forget she is a new licensed teacher on our team. She runs her classroom like a veteran teacher with poise, kindness, and patience. She also works well with our team of paras and the special education team at Cooper.
Cooper Elementary is super fortunate to have Mrs. Baker on the team. Please help me welcome Mrs. Baker to this new role at Cooper Elementary!