Second in a series
Re “Getting to Know Lisa Cooper, the New Principal of Culver High”
[img]2851|right|Lisa and Heaven Cooper||no_popup[/img]The closer that Lisa Cooper’s resume is inspected, the more the new Culver City High School principal sounds as if she is here on loan from Hollywood casting.
Every qualification and each response make Ms. Cooper resemble the model modern-day leader of a high school principal.
In her ninth year on the Culver High campus, she is in her 13th season of counseling middle and high school students.
What is the magnet that drew the almost-bubbly Ms. Cooper to counseling?
“Getting to have a personal interaction with students,” she said.
And isn’t this the kind of personality parents and students are seeking – especially given the circumstances under which the job came to her.
Dylan Farris, just under way in his third year as Culver High principal, left two weeks ago to accept an administrative promotion to the El Segundo Unified School District.
The transition has been as smooth as melting ice cream perched atop a heating-up stove.
Not a wrinkle.
What Attracted Her
“This is definitely a rewarding job,” Ms. Cooper said. “You get to speak to the students 101, and they see you are their support system.”
Sounding just like a mom, and she is of 13-year-old Heaven, she possesses the two main qualities of a mom, insight and empathy.
“Our students go through so many things we are not aware of outside of the classroom,” she said. “As a counselor, that gave me an opportunity to transfer those skills and advantages when I became an assistant principal.”
Ms. Cooper was in charge of attendance and discipline, and her background in counseling allowed her to bring a professional balance to the administrative position.”
She was not always an educator. She began her career as a basketball coach at Bishop Montgomery High School in Torrance. That experience, Ms. Cooper said, opened her eyes to the irresistible appeal of dedicating her life to education.
That, however, is a story for the next time.
(To be continued)
