SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — The countdown is over! News19 Teacher of the Week is back.
We are starting the 2024-2025 awards with Dr. Kamil Cooper, the music teacher at Lakewood High School in Sumter County.
"I wanted to be a band director since I was in sixth grade. I had a lot of teachers in my family, so I wanted to teach," says Dr. Cooper.
Dr. Cooper was born in Williamsburg County and worked in the music industry.
"I worked for a record label, Sony. I worked with their distribution company for a couple years. I didn't like the music industry. I wanted to effectively work with people who I can influence their minds, and that was working with students," says Dr. Cooper.
But the transition to education wasn't easy. After the tragic loss of one of his students in Charlotte, his passion for teaching grew stronger.
"Truth be told, one of my students got murdered by a taser...he died," says Dr. Cooper. "And I felt like if I had him at band practice that day, he wouldn't have died. So, I said, let me go back to education. Let me try to get in the classroom. And that's what ended up pushing me back into the classroom."
Dr. Cooper says it only took two hours of convincing to get him to come to Lakewood High School. Now in his third year at the high school, his purpose is clear.
"I teach because I love it. But I teach here because I see the potential here. And I see that they haven't had an opportunity to reach their full potential over the last 30 years," says Dr. Cooper.
Students like Keymaurii and Syniah are ready to reach that potential.
"He's not, like just an instructor. You can joke with him, you can laugh with him, you can have casual conversations with him," says Syniah Moye, a student at Lakewood High.
"The method to this man's madness works. Like, when I tell you, it was, a couple of things that I thought, okay. How are we going to get through this? I don't know what he does, but when he does it, it always comes together," says Keymaurii Robinson, a student at Lakewood High.
"I'm just doing what I feel is necessary. It makes me feel good that they're there, but it also makes me feel that maybe the next generation will listen," says Dr. Cooper.
"The connection he has with his students, you can tell he's passionate about his job. He doesn't just do it for money. And I feel like that award should go to somebody who's passionate about their job," says Syniah.
"Anytime I win something. We win. This is for y'all," says Dr. Cooper.
If you know a teacher like Dr. Cooper who deserves to be recognized for their hard work in the classroom you can nominate them by emailing us at TOW@WLTX.COM. Tell us what that educator is doing every day to go above and beyond in the classroom.
