School district officials plan Mook service

Jeff Benson

Friends and colleagues are mourning the death of longtime journalism

teacher and education advocate Linda Mook, who died Dec. 30. She was

62.

District officials know she was influential and popular among

students, teachers and administrators, and that’s why they hope to

pack a gymnasium in her honor.

She was buried Friday in Missouri, but those who knew her still

have an opportunity to pay their respects.

A memorial for Mook will be at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Corona del

Mar High School gymnasium, 2101 Eastbluff Drive in Newport Beach.

More than 1,000 people are expected to attend the memorial,

including students and staff at the high school, Newport-Mesa school

board member Dana Black said. Mook taught at Corona del Mar for 27

years.

“As a parent, and even before I became a board member, one of the

things I really admired about her was that it was important for her

to make sure I understood what the expectations were for the

children,” Black said.

“She seemed to have her finger on the pulse of what students need

to be successful in the future.”

Mook became the union president for the Newport-Mesa American

Federation of Teachers Local 1794 in 1994. She was best known in

Newport Beach for leading a charge to restructure the school district

to better recognize teachers’ needs in board policy, said JoAnn Copp,

union executive board member.

But Mook eventually wielded her influence on a larger stage.

In 1993, she became an educational issues coordinator for the

state teachers union, the California Federation of Teachers, and

frequently traveled to Sacramento to lobby for teachers’ rights.

“I’ve never seen a person as dynamic, and she went out of her way

to see that teachers were treated with dignity and respect,” Copp

said. “We’ve had a lot of good presidents, but there was something

about Linda that was unique.

“She could always see the big picture, and she was always for

teachers.”

The Newport-Mesa Unified School District has established the

“Linda Mook Memorial Scholarship Fund,” and Mook’s relatives will

decide after the memorial on which segment of education they’d like

to spend the money.

Checks can be sent to the district at 2985 Bear St., Costa Mesa,

92626 or to the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers at 2900 Bristol

St., Suite C107, Costa Mesa, 92626.