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.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.