Ms. Jane Cooper gives her students the tools they need in order to read and analysis literature better.
Photo by: Whitten Bumbalough, Photo Manager

By: Bobbi Zahn, Activities Manager

Ms. Jane Cooper, AP Literature and Composition and IB English 4 teacher, grew up traveling across the U.S. due to her father being in the military. Yet, she is an alumna from Seminole High School and has taught here for her entire career. Afterwards, Cooper attended Florida Southern, UCF, and Rollins for her higher education. She has a bachelor in English and completed her masters in  Liberal Studies at Rollins two years ago. Cooper also attended a summer course at Oxford for teachers. With this extraordinary educational background, Seminole is lucky to have such a qualified teacher.

Senior Ethan Tong says, “She’s extremely intelligent, well-educated, and over qualified for high school. She’s just a really good teacher. She’s changed my opinion on poetry and Shakespeare. I can actually read and understand [Shakespeare] now.”

The passion to educate others and learn has been an innate trait  in Cooper since she was a young girl. In high school, Cooper was known for reading poetry that wasn’t required and for helping her fellow classmates understand how to read poetry.

“I had a little chalkboard that I used as a kid to teach others, including my sister. A couple of really good teachers from high school inspired me to become a teacher,” says Cooper.

Cooper takes a lot of time to make sure that her students understand the material. Not only does she hold in-class discussions, she takes the time to explain difficult concepts and plans engaging activities.

Junior Gabby Barber says, “She is a good teacher because she always involves the entire class in discussions. She’s taught me a lot more about how to analyze literature, and she cares about all of her students’ success.”

Not only has Cooper taught at Seminole for over 41 years, she is also the coach of a state winning Academic Team  and has been for 17 years, an administrator for turnitin.com, winner of the 1994 Teacher of the Year Award, on the Teacher of the Year Committee, and in charge of the annual Shakespeare Contest on campus. Cooper won the Yale Teacher Recognition Award last year due to the nomination of a former student. Her passion for education and knowledge is evident in all of her activities.

“She hasn’t changed much [she was my sister’s best friend]. I just remember as a little girl, I would watch her and be amazed by her vivaciousness and intelligence. I loved to listen to her,” says AP Calc Teacher Mrs. Tami Ackerson.

With this long legacy at Seminole High School, there is one thing that Cooper wants all of her students to take away from her teachings— the importance of being well read.

“To me, being well read means reading great books and important things for self-improvement,” says Cooper. Reading the classics will help to broaden her student’s knowledge all throughout their lives, and that is what Cooper wants her students to take away: always to pursue knowledge, much like what Cooper has done throughout her life.

Cooper plans on teaching for a couple more years before retiring to travel and write fiction or poetry.