For Earlville teacher/coach Shannon Cook, patience is the key to success

As a special education teacher and high school softball coach at Earlville schools, Shannon Cook said many of the methods to her teaching overlap with her coaching.

Cook works with sixth- through eighth-grade students who have been identified with a learning disability or some other health impairment, ones who need extra support in school to be successful.

“Part of my job as a special education teacher is to also have a transition plan to help them think about what they are interested in,” Cook said.” I feel bad sometimes when I’m talking to a student about their future, because when I was their age, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.”

“Shannon is someone, because she is so smart and because of her drive, could have gone in so many different directions at so many places as far as a career goes. This community is so lucky she picked teaching, and so fortunate she stayed at Earlville.”

—  Kirsten Sweeney, Earlville schools

Then Shannon Gast, Cook grew up on a farm south of Earlville, was a three-sport athlete for the Red Raiders and graduated in 1991.

“I had no idea what my path would be,” Cook said with a laugh. “That is why I went to Illinois Valley Community College.”

However, it was at IVCC where Cook found the route she felt compelled to take.

“I took an early education math-type course and was working with students at one of the elementary schools in La Salle-Peru,” Cook said. “I kind of liked it, and I thought to myself, ‘I can do this.’ I also found I liked working with smaller groups and also along the way with kids that may have difficulty learning different concepts or learn at a different pace.

“I started thinking that was the path I wanted to follow and found Illinois State University had a great program for what I wanted to do.”

Cook did her student teaching in Oglesby and Mendota, and her first job was a part-time teacher in the spring of 1996 in Lostant and Tonica, which she planned to return the following school year.

Unknown to Cook, Earlville’s special education teacher was retiring.

“Mary Sons, the secretary at Earlville at the time, called me and told me to bring my resume ‘immediately’ to the school,” Cook said. “I just remember that I was in a cutoff shirt with work boots on, totally dirty from head to toe, just a mess from working in the yard with my grandmother. Other than having my resume ready, I really wasn’t prepared at all.

“When I got to the school, then-Principal Larry Imel poked his head out of his office and said, ‘Let’s talk.’ ”

As well as being hired for the vacant teaching position, Cook was also offered and accepted the junior high volleyball and high school softball coaching jobs.

Cook said in the classroom, one of her biggest joys is teaching someone to read, but she is also thrilled seeing a student finally overcome a problem or subject they are having trouble with.

“Just recently I had a student that was really struggling with her math,” Cook said. “I worked with her, and she worked very hard on trying to understand the problems. On her next test she got a really, really good grade. You could just see the happiness on her face and that she was truly understanding it and seeing how the numbers worked together to get the right answer. We worked on it, but she did it all by herself. It was so great to see.

“It is when the student’s skills have reached the point when they don’t need my help anymore ... those moments are why I do what I do. It takes a lot of patience, but those moments are exciting for all of us.”

Kirsten Sweeney, who graduated from Earlville a few years after Cook and teaches sixth- through eighth-grade science in the room across the hall, says Cook is not only an invaluable resource for her, but the entire staff.

“Shannon is very tough on both her students and players, but in a good way,” said Sweeney, an assistant softball coach for 10 years and currently the Earlville High School athletic director. “She is willing to work with any of them one-on-one, but she is also great with all of the team aspects.”

Sweeney says Cook has a special talent in “keeping a level head” when tough situations arise and is so happy both of their paths ended up back in their hometown.

“We share students, and sometimes I’m at my wit’s end on how to get through to one of them,” Sweeney said. “Shannon is a great resource for me. The student and I will sit down with Shannon, and because she’s so patient, she is able to hear the problem, have thoughts and ideas on how to fix it, and all the while having a calming effect on the situation.

“Shannon is someone, because she is so smart and because of her drive, could have gone in so many different directions at so many places as far as a career goes. This community is so lucky she picked teaching, and so fortunate she stayed at Earlville.”

Cook is currently in her 27th season of coaching varsity softball and coached her 600th career game on April 24 against Serena.

“Coaching softball is still teaching, still managing, still problem-solving, still breaking things down and still being patient,” said Cook, who has also kept the scorebook or ran the scoreboard at many other Earlville sporting events. “Over the past few years I’ve thought about if this is going to be my last year, but I’m just not ready to be done with it yet. It still makes me happy.

“I’ve been truly blessed to have the jobs of teaching and coaching in my hometown.”