Shawn Cook

Lakeside administrator named Superintendent of the Year

Shawn Cook was named Superintendent of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators on Sept. 25. Cook has served as superintendent for the Lakeside School District in Hot Springs for 15 years.
Shawn Cook was named Superintendent of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators on Sept. 25. Cook has served as superintendent for the Lakeside School District in Hot Springs for 15 years.

When Shawn Cook was a senior at Walnut Ridge High School, Terry Belcher, the principal at the time, also served as the athletic director. Therefore, he had a lot on his plate, so he allowed Cook and another classmate to teach a physical-education class.

“I didn’t realize how much that impacted me at the time,” Cook said. “It was a great hands-on learning opportunity, and it really got me on that pathway without me even realizing it.”

But Cook’s pathway to becoming an educator had a couple of detours along the way.

Initially, he thought about becoming a carpenter, so after he graduated from high school in 1986, he got a job as a carpenter. He was working on a building that was three stories high, and he realized he didn’t love carpentry as a job; he loved carpentry as a hobby.

“I like building things I wanted to build. I wanted to build in the environment I wanted to build,” Cook said. “That’s still one of my favorite pastimes.”

When he started college at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Cook was studying to become a pharmacist and didn’t really like that, either. After visiting with his aunt, she reminded him of what he truly enjoyed.

“She said, ‘I always thought you would work with kids,’ and it was like a light bulb went off in my head,” Cook said. “After that, I went into education, and I never looked back.”

Cook, who has served as superintendent for the Lakeside School District for 15 years, was named Superintendent of the Year by the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators on Sept. 25.

“Shawn is a man of the most high character and ethic standards,” said Richard Abernathy, director of the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. “On the professional side of it, when it comes to school finance, he knows it inside and out.

“He’s a people person. He enjoys being around people and helping people out. I am very proud to call him a colleague and friend. To me, he has that leadership capacity, not only at Lakeside, but all around the state.”

Abernathy, a former superintendent for the Bryant School District, has known Cook for several years. Abernathy said one of the reasons Cook won the award was not only the work he has done for Lakeside, including pulling the district out of financial distress, but also his leadership skills in the local community.

“He does a lot of training for us,” Abernathy said. “We will tap into him to present different things, including school-finance topics. He is always willing to jump in and take that role.

“He serves on several committees and is very active at Lakeside and also has a statewide presence.”

It was Abernathy, as well as former winners, who presented the award to Cook at a school-board meeting.

“It was pretty special,” Cook said. “I just really appreciate all the superintendents who came to present that award to me.

“It was a total surprise. They did a great job of keeping it a secret from me.”

Cook graduated from Arkansas State University in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in education. He earned a master’s degree from Henderson State University in Arkadelphia.

His first job after college was a teaching and coaching position at Malvern High School, where he stayed for three years. Following that, he served three years at the Ouachita School District as K-12 assistant principal and eventually high school principal. He then served as principal for Magnet Cove High School for five years.

“Our district went through some issues there and got into fiscal distress,” Cook said. “They brought in a guy, Bob Evans, who ended up being my mentor and trained me. He was a phenomenal superintendent. A year later, he hired me to take over [the Magnet Cove School District].”

Cook said it was one of the best blessings to have trained under Evans for a year. Cook said most superintendents don’t get that luxury.

“He is a real nice man,” Evans said of Cook. “He is a good Christian man, and he tries to do everything right. He has real good public relations, and he works well with his board and staff. … He had good public relations with people, and one of the most important things as superintendent is to have good public relations.”

Three years later, Evans helped Cook get hired as superintendent by the Lakeside School District when it was in fiscal distress.

“Fiance is something I love to work with; it is kind of a passion for me,” Cook said. “I love the finance part of it. If I do what I can to take care of the finances for our district, then that money will go to our kids.

“This way, they can do all the things and have all the opportunities they can possibly want or need.”

While at Malvern, Cook served as an assistant coach in football, basketball and baseball. The first group he ever coached was Madre Hill’s group. Hill is a former NFL football player, having played for the Oakland Raiders.

“Madre went on to set several school records at the University of Arkansas and is one of the best all-time running backs,” Cook said. “That team went on to win a state championship at Malvern — the school’s only state championship in football.”

One of Cook’s proudest achievements, however, is offering a parents night out for parents of children with special needs.

“We wanted to give parents an opportunity to spend more time with their other kids or family,” Cook said. “The special-needs students are here during the day, and their health care is provided here, so we just extended that to after-hours and let their parents have a night to do something on their own.”

He said the parents night out has become one of those things that has benefited him a whole lot more than the kids.

“That’s one of those things I’m really proud of,” Cook said. “We got that started. It’s going, and it’s working. I’m the biggest benefactor, but it is also helping our kids and parents.”

Courtney Eubanks, the Lakeside special-education administrator, said Cook is an amazing superintendent, not only for the district, but for the community as well.

“A lot of our students with special needs don’t get invited to birthday parties or activities, so the parents night out has been a big event for students with special needs,” Eubanks said. “They have enjoyed it.”

This month, one of the assistant superintendents will dress up as Santa Claus and will pose for pictures with the students.

“For students with special needs, standing in line to meet Santa can be very overwhelming,” Eubanks said, “so this will be a sensory-friendly environment as well.”

Cook’s ultimate goal as superintendent is to provide for the students. It stems from when his dad was a student and couldn’t afford a math book. His dad, Larry, was one of 11 children, and Cook’s grandma worked two jobs.

“Back then, students had to pay for their books,” Cook said. “My dad couldn’t afford it, and he wasn’t about to ask his mom for the money. He’d rather say he forgot it, then tell somebody he couldn’t afford it.”

Inspired by this story, as well as his mom, Janice Cook, Shawn Cook said, one of the things he is proud that the Lakeside School District does is provide school supplies for the kids.

“I think we are supposed to provide our kids a free and appropriate education. I wanted all of our kids to not have to worry about anything academically,” Cook said.

“As an old coach, I never asked a football player to bring a helmet to practice — we provided those things,” he said. “I wanted everything to be provided to our kids academically — papers, pens, pencils, whatever they needed.

“I want them to feel equal coming into the classroom. Hopefully, we have given them the tools to be successful.”

Lakeside also provides 66 hours of college credit free to students while they are in high school.

“Our board made that a priority,” Cook said. “We provide the books, the classes, everything for our kids.

“So when they graduate from here, a lot of them have two years of college credit to take with them.”

When Cook started at Lakeside in 2004, the district offered five Advanced Placement classes. Last year, Lakeside had 15 AP courses, and through the addition of the Florida Virtual Academy, the number has increased to 24 for the 2018-2019 school year.

“Years ago, I was told that the best predictor of how well a student will do in college is based on how many AP courses they take,” Cook said, “because it gives students the opportunity to develop a strong work ethic and challenge themselves, and really prepares them for the advanced courses that higher education offers.

“Life is about work ethic.”

Cook said that while the Superintendent of the Year award was a surprise, it would not have been possible without the faculty and staff he has at Lakeside.

“When you see a coach get coach of the year, it is because they have a great team,” Cook said. “The people I work with here do a great job. Sometimes, the guy who is at the head of it will get the credit.

“But really, it is the team scoring the points.”

Staff writer Sam Pierce can be reached at (501) 244-4314 or spierce@arkansasonline.com.

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