Boys & Girls Clubs of the Ocoee Region Welcomes Ducktown Native to the Copper Basin Unit
Ducktown Commissioner, Cortney Hook, officially signs on as the new Unit Director, bringing a wealth of experience and passion to the Copper Basin Unit.
Cortney Hook, who serves as a Ducktown Commissioner alongside Commissioner Mike Worley and Mayor Doug Collins, is about as rooted in the history of Copper Basin as anyone.
Cortney was born at the old Copper Basin Medical Center (CBMC) … one of the last groups of children to be delivered at CBMC. She attended both Copper Basin Elementary and graduated from Copper Basin High School in 2000.
“I thought I wanted to go into the medical field,” Cortney said. “I took a lot of health classes. But while I was in high school I worked for an attorney for two years. I started when I was a junior and worked after school. I had a work program and I would leave at 11 o’clock and go to work. Once I graduated, I decided to enroll in some legal classes at Cleveland State to work towards being a paralegal, but then an opportunity opened up at the school. I started at the elementary school and worked there for five years. After that, I transitioned to the high school and I’ve been there now 13 years. So I’ve been with the school for 18 years!”
At Copper Basin Elementary, Cortney worked with all grades, primarily doing reading intervention to try and help kids get the extra help they needed before testing. She also intervened for kids who needed special accommodations for testing.
At Copper Basin High School, her official title was “bookkeeper,” but she did a little bit of everything there: registering new kids and even serving as the Homeless Liaison for the Basin area. In that role, Cortney helped kids and families who were experiencing temporary homelessness to apply for insurance, food stamps, clothing, arrange doctor’s appointments, transportation, and more.
“I even coached cheerleading … for probably 10 years,” Cortney revealed. “And now I get to coach my daughter!”
With such a long history of working around kids, you’d expect Cortney to be passionate about making a difference … and you’d be correct.
Not all kids have the luxury of getting special help at home. Sometimes it’s the overwhelming work load of parents, sometimes it’s an absentee parent, sometimes it’s an even more difficult situation. But whatever the reason, Cortney loves to help.
“I love being with the kids who need the extra help,” she says. “Those are the ones that really stand out for me.”
When asked about special memories that still stick with her even after so many years, Cortney quickly recalls being able to help with the coat and shoe drive for Basin kids.
“We had this one high school kid who had come to us, asking for a pair of shoes. That in itself was a big deal because he did not like to ask for help. And when he took his boots off, he had horrible calluses between his toes because he had a screw that was holding his boot together from the bottom. That one really hit hard.”
“It’s just … it’s so sad what some of our kids have to go through,” Cortney said, her voice filled with sorrow and compassion. “Sometimes you’re the only positive person that a kid might see. And I always try to think about things like that. No matter how your day is going, knowing that you might be a kid’s only positive presence … you know, that stuff really gets me.”
Cortney’s exposure to the Club came through her kids. Her youngest, currently ages 8 and 12, started attending the Copper Basin Unit as soon as it opened and, in Cortney’s words, “they absolutely loved it!” Cortney particularly liked that her kids were able to get some of their homework done during Power Hour so that “when they got home, it wasn’t just work, work, work, get ready for the next day, and then that’s it.”
“[The Club is] such a good program,” Cortney says. Even before she was on staff, Cortney spoke at public forums on behalf of the Club. “I never thought I would be working here,” she said, “but I was always in support of the Club. We need it in our community and our kids need it. The whole Copper Basin/tri-state area benefits from it.”
In terms of her new role as Unit Director, Cortney says she’s excited to be fully working with kids again.
“I’ve always loved kids,” she says. “I’m excited to try and be a positive person and to build up the Club. And I’m very excited about our new building! It’s going to be amazing. I really think we can grow. I think where we’re at we can get kids from several different locations, not just our local school.”
If you’d like to directly support Cortney and the kids at the Copper Basin Unit, consider becoming one of our Polk County Everyday Heroes. This monthly giving program makes it possible for you to give direct, ongoing support (of any amount) towards the programs and resources that Copper Basin kids need every day to help them achieve Great Futures.
