Mrs. Heather Cooper recently joined West High School's teaching staff. This year, Cooper entered her fifth year teaching. Prior to joining the Trojan Nation, Cooper taught English at Chuckey-Doak High School in Greeneville and West Greene Middle School, which also lies in Greeneville.
Cooper grew up in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, just west of Charlotte. Later, Cooper attended Tusculum university, amassing three degrees including a Bachelor's Degree in English, professional writing, an Master’s Degree in Teaching, English grades 7-12 and another Masters Degree in human resource development. Cooper was originally a journalist coming from college. “I found I loved to learn people's stories, but couldn't help them in a deeper way,” said Cooper. This thought likely led to her work in the Tusculum and MTSU admissions, however during this time a realization dawned on her “I realized I could and needed to help students reach their goals and potential - this would require me to get into the classroom.”. So begins the life of Heather Cooper as the Trojan Nation knows her today.
Cooper’s passion for English and helping people intersected into her current career. Cooper has always been fond of English, going as far as declaring herself as “an English nerd”, stating “AP Lit still is one of my favorite classes - and I've taken A LOT.” Cooper believes in instilling a love for reading and writing in her students, “Now, as a teacher I just want students to find the joys in reading. It's becoming a lost art with students always on their cellphones, but a good book can take you away just as easily as TikTok.” Her passion for writing has been prevalent in her life since before she entered college. Cooper hopes to use this experience to shape the writers of tomorrow, “...now my writing degree helps me teach students tips and tricks. This also makes me a pretty tough editor.”
Cooper has myriad interests aside from writing and teaching however. Spending time with her husband and dog, Iris in the many parks in town. Cooper also has a love for travel, “I also LOVE to travel and have a small travel advising business on the side. Right now I'm sitting at nine countries and several islands visited-hoping to continue to see new places.”. And as any ELA teacher does, Cooper is reading several books outside of school.