Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Cooley.
Hi Victoria, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am an English teacher at Perry Career Academy in Joneboro, GA. I teach and mentor students who struggled in traditional school. This is often their last chance to make up their credits and graduate high school. In terms of my personal journey, I was born in New York City in 1984 to Susan and Rodney Edwards. They were matched in a mass wedding by Sun Myung Moon. He was the controversial Korean religious leader of the Unification Church. They were matched and married in 1981 with over 2,000 other couples in Madison Square Gardens. I have a sister named Sunny Levine. She is a corporate lawyer in Denver Colorado. We moved from New York City to Indianapolis in 1991 and then we moved to Michigan in 1995. I was raised in a suburb of Detroit called Grosse Pointe. I went to the Unviersity of Michigan and majored in Political Science. I was a writer for the Michigan Daily (the student newspaper at Michigan). I graduated in December of 2006. After I graduated I moved to Miami, Florida with my sister to be closer to my parents. They’d moved to Florida, while I was in college, to take care of my grandather who was not doing well. I worked the the Collins Center for Public Policy as an AmeriCorps VISTA and then got hired for two years. I was laid off and moved to Shenyang, China for a year to teacher English. I worked as an Admissions Manager at the nonprofit City Year, when I returned to Miami. Then I went to study at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. I worked as a social media manager for the news website City Limits. I also did some freelance reporting for the Daily News. I moved to McDonough, GA to marry my new ex husband. In Georgia, I did some freelance work for JJIE (a journalism initiative out of Kennesaw State). Once I got to Georgia, I also started considering a career move. I had really enjoyed teaching English in China and I wanted to do it full time. I took the GACE exams and became an English teacher. I first worked at Stilwell High School in Clayton County. I went on to teach at Perry Career Academy, which is where i am currently. I love the opportunity to work with my students through technology and mentorship to help them graduate high school. I also have 2 young sons — Tommy, who is 6, and Xander, who is 4.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of the struggles were my divorce two years ago. It was also a struggle to get into teaching and learn how to manage the rigor and stress of being a new teacher with the responsibility and stress of being a new mother.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a high school English teacher at Perry Career Academy. It is an alternative school for students who struggle in traditional schools settings. I co-teaching using zoom and other technological platforms like Nearpod to help keep my students engage as they juggle demanding parenting and/or work schedules. I am most proud of my ability to create and develop relationships with my students. I also think I am very innovative. My coworkers and I are looking at how to integrate AI into our curriculum. We are excited to have AI essays for us and give our students rubrics to grade those essays and look at the errors in these essays — specifically around voice and tone. We are looking at how to help our brainstorm what they want and how to take apart and create the most effective prompts to get the information that they need.
How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
We are always looking for more resources for our students — snacks, technology, training, internships (many of our students will be entering the workforce shortly), career development services etc.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://312.clayton.k12.ga.us/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victoria.edwards5
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoria-cooley-8720a36/
Image Credits
Sir Charles Weatherspoon
Kenya Funderburk
D’Niyah Williams
Priscilla Rutherford
