Joshua P. Cook was born into a life of service as a member of the Peace Corps (children born to active volunteers are born into service and paid a wage) in Halfway Tree, Jamaica. He served as a literacy tutor through Americorp as a member of the East Bay Conservation Corps in Oakland, Ca.
After a few years teaching Algebra I at Crenshaw High School in South Los Angeles, Joshua moved on to teach at a fledgling charter school, Ánimo Justice, a Green Dot Public School, in the historic South Central district. At Justice, Joshua works in his capacity as Department Chair of Mathematics to develop an Algebra & Geometry curriculum that is both conceptually challenging and friendly to students learning to speak academic English and requiring remediation in mathematics.
Joshua received his Bachelor of Arts in English Literature (though he managed to squeeze in a class in American Studies with a young Pedro Noguera) from the University of California at Berkeley. He did his teaching credential through UCLA’s Center X. Joshua is classified as a highly qualified teacher under the No Child Left Behind Act.
Joshua is an avid bicyclist. In 1999, he rode from Los Angeles to San Francisco. In 2006, Joshua and his wife were the sole American representatives on an IPPNW, anti-nuclear proliferation peace ride around the Baltic Sea. On this ride, more than 30 participants from a dozen nations cycled 1500 km from Talinn, Estonia to Helsinki, Finland. Joshua is also a musician and enjoys DJing under the moniker, DJ Regular. Visit his blog, Sweat and Technique.
