District 207 career coordinator earns state recognition

Laura Cook, career coordinator in Maine Township High School District 207, was named recipient of the IACTE Career Guidance Award during the Illinois Association for Career and Technical Education annual conference.

The award recognizes guidance counselors and career development professionals who have made significant contributions to advocate, educate and communicate the value of CTE as a viable career option to a variety of audiences in their communities.

Cook has been with District 207 for 15 years. Her first 10 were spent as director of the federal grant-funded program JumpStart, which provides work-readiness and paid work experience programming for at-risk students. In her role as career coordinator since 2014, she has worked to advance the district goals, which included expansion of career options and opportunities for all students and development of alternative training strategies and tools

to enhance student and teacher skill sets.