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Nicole Cooper’s teaching career began where she began — in Waynesville, Missouri, located in the Ozarks. It’s the place where she was born, where she babysat neighborhood kids, where she grew up. And now, it is the place where she has returned to be a kindergarten teacher at the school she attended, Waynesville East Elementary.

“ There’s been so much change, and so it feels really cool to see how far our rural district has come because of the opportunities and the awesome things we have here,” she says. “We're a pretty big district for around here, but it's also like there are districts that are way bigger than us, you know, in other places.

“So it's like, man, people think like Waynesville is just a little dot on the map that nobody goes to or they just drive past it on the interstate, going to St. Louis or Kansas City, all those other bigger cities. But I've always wanted to stay here and teach. It's cozy and it's my community and my home, basically.”

Growing up, she had always thought about being teacher, but as she moved through high school, the grind started to take its toll. By her junior year, she had figured out the minimum she needed to do to graduate with a decent GPA, enough to earn scholarships. And she figured she could do it without putting her all into her college-level AP Composition course.

But her teacher — someone beloved by Nicole and the other students — stopped her outside class one day. His words stick with her to this day: “You’re too smart to be acting so stupid.”

“He finally stopped me, and he had said that to me, and I was like, ‘Busted!’ Because he was like, ‘It's enough. It's enough. You're too smart. You have to really change and think about what you're going be doing for the rest of your life.’ And I was like, ‘OK, dude. You win.’ …”

“ He just was really good at teaching all of us and getting to know all of us and loving all of us to where it got to the point to where he was able to talk to me and be like, ‘Really?’

“And I was, of course, very receptive to that.”

Nicole says she’s been fortunate to have such mentors throughout her life, who have recognized how open she is to feedback.

“People have told me that I'm very teachable and I was like, ‘OK,’ but now, like that I'm in my teaching career, I'm like, ‘No, I understand why,’” she says.

“I've always been very receptive to constructive criticism or things that have been said because it is a teaching moment, because I know from all of their hearts, like, nobody has ever been intentionally rude, mean. This has all been because like, ‘Hey, we see the potential that you have, and you need to start doing something with it.’”

Over the years, she has heeded and embraced such voices. It is a voice she brings into her classroom now, to mentor and teach others, to help them find their own selves.

Young Challenges

Nicole’s students at Waynesville East come from diverse backgrounds, and some face severe challenges or obstacles at home. Some kids are in foster care; others are being raised by grandparents. Whatever their circumstances, she keeps her arms wide open.

“It's just really unfortunate when, for me, growing up here, I had a great house life,” she says. “And then I started my first year teaching and I'm like, ‘Whoa, this kid just did experience what? At 5 years old?’ Like, I couldn't imagine. So I know a lot of my little people are struggling outside of school pretty badly.

“… All of my little people in here are amazing and incredible, and no matter what they are going through, whatever I know or don't know, they are so resilient, so smart, and still so loving because even as adults, we don't know what somebody could be going through.

“And I want them to know that Ms. Cooper will consistently be a safe space for me as long as I'm in kindergarten. Even if one has a tough day or I'm having a tough day, at the end of the day, we just love each other, no matter what. And these kids love each other. They're such good friends to each other.

“They are just the sweetest little things I have ever, ever met.”

To help provide stability, Ms. Cooper’s classroom focuses on structure and order. She guides the kids toward understanding the natural consequences of their world: Actions and decisions result in reactions and consequences. They are not powerless characters in their lives.

“ I just love the idea of natural consequences, especially now as a parent,” she says. “So, like, me growing as a parent has also helped in my teaching because I go, ‘Oh, all kids are the same. And I was a kid once and I remember being like this. And so now, how do I help them so they can still grow and learn in the way that they should go?’”

Natural Consequences

“I'm huge on the natural consequences, like problem solving,” Nicole explains. “I try to emphasize our mindfulness in here because you're not just going to tell a kid, ‘Oh my gosh. They're having a hard day. You don't need to treat them like that.’ So when things like that happen — ‘Hey, are we being kind in our words and our actions toward this friend? Are we being mindful about what's happening right now? How can we problem-solve it and figure out a way to solve this without being upset at each other?’

“Or: ‘It's OK that you're upset, but how can we still figure this out together?’ Because I — even last year — I felt like I never had issues with any of my kiddos being mean to each other. But there are days where they're like, ‘Hey, he just cut me in line and I'm so upset.’ Those are real 5-year-old kindergarten problems.”

Those consequences and lessons pop up throughout the day. If someone runs and falls, it serves as a reminder of why the “no running” rule exists. Students who goof off instead of completing worksheets will not get as much Center Time, where they get to explore on their own.

“ Accountability is a big deal for me because I've grew up with some pretty serious accountability” Nicole says. “Not in a bad way, but I was kept accountable for my actions. And so I always feel like you aren't gonna be responsible, you aren't gonna be able to be a good, consistent friend as an adult if you don't have that accountability when you're little.”

For as long as she can remember, Nicole has always loved working with kids. She began working in the nursery at church around age 9 and gradually made her way into babysitting, where word quickly spread about her child-care capabilities. In high school, she worked at a daycare.

While in college, Nicole was accepted as part of the Ozarks Teacher Corps, part of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Rural Schools Partnership, an initiative driven by the belief that “public education is a linchpin issue in rural economic development.” The Ozarks Teacher Corps seeks to recruit new teachers to rural school districts and offers participants $4,000 per year for up to two years. In return, the scholarship recipients commit to teach in a rural school district for three years following graduation. In addition, Teton Science Schools of Jackson, Wyoming, another Rural Schools Collaborative partner, offers professional development as part of the program.

Continual Learning

Nicole received her bachelor of science in elementary education from Drury University in 2024. After her first year of teaching, a year full of firsts, her self-reflection kicked in once again: What could she do better? What lessons could she take into the next year?

”How can I take what I did last year, learn from it and adjust it for the next group of kids?” she asks. “Because every kid is different. So far, cutting in line hasn't been a problem in here, but it's been sticking tongues out at each other. Just these small childlike things that we all know that they do at this age.

“A lot of that helps me figure out, ‘OK, these are little people. I'm learning them. There's 21 of them. How do I take a look and see, is this a pattern? Is this something we do? Like how can we problem-solve and adjust to loving each other every single day, even when it's hard?’ ”

Nicole often does not know everything about her students’ home situations. But it’s clear that what happens outside the school can affect what’s happening inside for many of her “little friends,” as she calls them. She models how to manage emotions, and she notices that even at 5, many of the kids pick up on it and model the behavior themselves.

“I feel like a lot of mine, if they've ever had a big blowup at the end of the day, I'm, like, ‘You had no idea how to tell me how you were feeling. And that was all you knew how to do,’” she says.

“And so, a lot of my friends, they just don't know how to articulate their needs. I always emphasize — like, if I see one about to blow, and I mean like steam coming from the ears, bright red — I'm like, ‘Stop. Let's think for a second. You're gonna have to figure out what's happening, and I'm gonna help you because it's obvious if you're doing things like that. No one's told you how to say, “Oh my gosh, I'm so mad right now.” ’ ”

“I get it. I could pop, you know, and with kindergarten, I can do funny stuff like that, where I'm like, ‘Don't explode. Wait, wait, what's going on?’ And then they're just like, ‘OK.’ I'm like, ‘Are you mad? Are you hungry? Are you sad? Are you happy? What type of response is this?’

“I definitely think helping them find the words on how they're feeling and how to really put it out there. Especially when I emphasize like I want us to be problem solvers. So if I have my back turned and another friend is about to, you know, explode. And then I hear another friend saying, ‘Wait, take a deep breath. Just stop. Stop and think. Don't pop.’ And then they're like, ‘Oh, OK.’ And they're receptive to it.”

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