Janet Wood (right) shares a candid moment with a student. Wood spent the majority of her career in school athletics, intended to be kindergarten principal for only one year to fill a district need, but has fallen in love with the position.


tendent Dr. Jake Long. “She has taken on a variety of roles and more than suc- ceeded in them. She is continuously growing as a professional. … She is somebody who can do any job in school and do it well.”


Humble beginnings Wood grew up in Knob Creek, on the


outskirts of Melbourne, and was the middle of five children born to Lonnie and Margie Cooper. It was natural for her to compete with her younger and older brothers in everything. After school, they ran about a mile


In 2015, Janet Wood became the district’s technology, research and dev elopment director. Three years ago, each kindergarten and first-grade teacher had three iPads for students. This fall, every kindergarten and first-grade student has an iPad to use.


12 ❚ SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 ❚ LIVING WELL


from the bus to the basketball hoop to see who could make the first basket. Their dad hung a light on an extension cord from a walnut tree so they could play at night, and the last one there would hide the ball in order to be first the next day. Her parents exhibited a hard work ethic. Her mother worked at Baxter Lab, while her father worked on the farm, at a service station and used furniture store to make ends meet.


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