By Loreen Berlin: Cook Elementary School in Garden Grove has been named a "National Blue Ribbon School" and, as such, held a celebration Friday, Jan. 6.
Students, staff and parents were recognized for their part achieving this high accomplishment; Cook was one of only three schools in Orange County to receive the honor.
By Loreen Berlin: Cook Elementary School in Garden Grove has been named a "National Blue Ribbon School" and, as such, held a celebration Friday, Jan. 6.
Students, staff and parents were recognized for their part achieving this high accomplishment; Cook was one of only three schools in Orange County to receive the honor.
Starting the morning off, music played by the very-skilled Bolsa Grande Marching Matadors Band, directed by John Miller. Then there was the posting of colors, which was unique, representing the great diversity the school has in students speaking various languages while working to immerse into the English language.
The American flag was presented to Principal Sandi Ishii, along with a plaque honoring the school.
Second-grade teacher Meghan Fischer accompanied Ishii to Washington, D.C. to receive the award and was instrumental in writing and preparing the Blue Ribbon application.
Following the posting of the American flag were presentations of other flags representing the Native American-Mohegan Nation, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Ghana, Japan, Korea, Pakistan and the Philippines. The Blue Ribbon flag was also presented.
Each flag was carried by students originally from those countries, wearing their traditional national clothing.
Flag bearers included Kayla Nguyen, Ericson Tong, Alexis Priego, Julietta Brito, Austin Flores-Castaneda, Brayden Huynh, Anh Thu Pham, Salika Mohammad, Jarron Sy, Emma Pham, Madison Salto, Joel Jung, Joshua Kim, Ammar Fahad, Makayla Ownby and Joshua Ownby.
The Cook Elementary School scholar choir, under the direction of Michelle Son, performed "America the Beautiful,” and a beautiful rendition of the national anthem was sung by a parent, Phuong Nguyen, with his daughter standing by his side.
The flag salute was performed by the student council, followed by PTO President Joeleen Sbonek, followed by student speakers Fernando Angeles, Hillary Nguyen and Zoey Schmidt.
"What it means to be a scholar is never giving up and continuing to participate,” Schmidt said.
Posting the three main flags of the United States, California and Blue Ribbon Flag were international scholars Anne Averkieff, Kelly Ebright and Sbonek, who are also ”Cook Stakeholder Representatives."
The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program began in 1982 to honor schools achieving high levels of performance or that made significant improvements in closing the achievement gap among student sub-groups. One-third of all schools nominated in any state must serve student populations of at least 40-percent from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"Cook is a very special place to teach," said PTO President Sbonek. "There’s a reason why teachers never want to leave our school and why a teacher who has taught here for 40-plus years could retire, but chooses not to. Why teachers who are excessed due to lower school enrollment are willing to pack up and move back the moment enrollment increases. That reason is the family environment at Cook School holding us together by bonds of love and meaningful relationships."
Sbonek said at Cook there is a tangible sense of belonging and that students, parents, staff and community members share common goals and visions that result in the school’s success.
"Cook is an environment where diversity and differences are celebrated and respected, with our school family being a supportive community, led with active, visible love by Principal Ishii evidenced by her scholar support groups, school-wide presentations and continual encouragement of teachers and staff," said Sbonek. Principal Ishii said Cook Elementary received the National Blue Ribbon award under the performance category of "Exemplary High Performance,” where Cook was among the top 15 percent of schools in the nation.
"We are one of 33 in our state and one of approximately 300 in our nation and this recognition of excellence belongs to all of us, as no school achieves this level of success without the commitment and support of teachers, parents, and our community members and most importantly the hard work and perseverance of our student scholars," said Ishii.
