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Coming Home

Elyse Cook Comes Home To Serve Low-Income Students

Education Department alumna Elyse Cooke is back in her native Ohio teaching third grade reading at United Preparatory Academy in Columbus. The charter school is under the United Schools Network which serves low-income students. The school focuses on academic excellence which will prepare students for college and ultimately becoming citizens of integrity.

Elyse graduated from Wittenberg after four years of adventure both on campus and off. She was one of only a handful of students that has taken advantage of every opportunity to travel to other countries to explore, provide service and study.

Her positive attitude and can do spirit was recognized when she was awarded Teacher of the Year during her third year of teaching in 2015-2016. The award was presented to Elyse last spring just before she ended her time with Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida to return to her home in Columbus. She taught second and third grade during her three years with the district. Quite an accomplishment for a young teacher who began her career in 2013.

The award was designed to recognize and honor her contributions. This award is presented to teachers who demonstrate a superior capacity to inspire a love of learning in their students who come from all backgrounds and abilities. 

It is no surprise to anyone in the Education Department who worked with Elyse that she started the school's first chess club. She was the head of the CHEER Committee at her school focusing on improving staff morale. She also mentored new teachers regarding classroom management and has returned to Wittenberg to share her experiences with pre-service teachers in the Education Department.

Ryan Maurer
Ryan Maurer
Associate Director of Athletics for Communications, Web Strategy & Content

About Wittenberg

Wittenberg's curriculum has centered on the liberal arts as an education that develops the individual's capacity to think, read, and communicate with precision, understanding, and imagination. We are dedicated to active, engaged learning in the core disciplines of the arts and sciences and in pre-professional education grounded in the liberal arts. Known for the quality of our faculty and their teaching, Wittenberg has more Ohio Professors of the Year than any four-year institution in the state. The university has also been recognized nationally for excellence in community service, sustainability, and intercollegiate athletics. Located among the beautiful rolling hills and hollows of Springfield, Ohio, Wittenberg offers more than 100 majors, minors and special programs, enviable student-faculty research opportunities, a unique student success center, service and study options close to home and abroad, a stellar athletics tradition, and successful career preparation.

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