Carter cooper

I was born right here in Nashville, TN! But, I was raised a Florida Girl in Vero Beach, FL. I have lived in a great many places, including Chapel Hill & Raleigh, NC, Sewanee, TN, Charleston, SC, Cambridge, Eng, as well as Greece!

My name is Carter, but while I lived in Greece I was given the name Iris (Ιρις), which is the name of the Goddess of the rainbow, and the daughter of Wonder (Θαυμος)!

When I received my Master’s degree in the Humanities, I knew I wanted to become someone who teaches and explores the weight and wonder of our human predicament.

However, I did not want to teach in the absence of play. I want to teach but I want to teach lightly not forcefully, playfully exploring and learning alongside my students, with enthusiasm as our guide.

While I was working as a professional facepainter I began to spend a great many hours around children, who need not be told to follow their enthusiasm. I fell in love with their uninhibited sense of curiosity and wonder, and decided to dedicate my time to nurturing this innate sense of play in myself and others. For a mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a torch to be lit (a little Platogiarism), and I long to stoke and fan their marvelous flames.

At New Leaf, I am the Forest Playgroup Guide! This very cool and exciting title means that I design group activities for the Forest Campus young explorers. I then work alongside them, observing their interests and altering the activities in accord with whatever direction our enthusiasm takes us. We explore, learn, have fun, and think critically through play. We ponder the gifts of the earth while getting our hands a little dirty!

My heroes are Dolly Parton and Bilbo Baggins for they both embody the wisdom of serious play. Mrs. Parton has taught me that a woman would do well to be classy, kind, and well read, and that wisdom is rooted in humility and grace (with one’s self and others).

Mr. Baggins taught me that we are often far braver than we believe ourselves to be, and that one need not shed their silliness in order to act courageously.

My greatest mentor is Dr. Joe Conlon, who taught me Modern and Ancient Greek. From this exceptional man, I learned that in order to better yourself, you must be willing to look rather foolish, and that you would do well to learn to enjoy it.

One of the most important transformations I have undergone has been learning to take my work incredibly seriously, but not myself. I have learned that the price of play is embarrassment, and that such embarrassment is not so serious as all that! This lesson is so important because it allows me to remain a perpetual beginner, always with something new and fascinating to explore.

In my free time I am an avid reader and an amateur cartoonist! I love to learn all sorts of new things, simply for the sake of learning. 

I draw, paint, write, sing (off-key), dance, act, and play the day away!

I enjoy the greek language.

My favorite thing to eat in the whole wide world is a tall, fat Reuben, soaked in thousand island, with BBQ chips smushed between the sandwich-ends and a crisp Coke Zero with crushy ice to wash it all down. If I am not allowed this delicacy, I long for a hot, soft pretzel smothered in mustard (no cheese!). 

My favorite color has always been purple. I was always drawn to it for its deep, rich hues, but I think what really pulls it toward my heart is how storied a color it is. All of the history and mythology of purple imbues it with the magic of the shade itself; purple ink was originally sourced from sea snails, and used to make royal garments. So purple is a secret, hidden color, belonging to the whispers of the deep. When found, this secret treasure clothed kings, queens, and princesses! A secret color that maketh royalty, that’s magic, is it not?

I have recently started taking ballroom dance lessons and I am hoping to enter a dance competition before the year is out! I love learning and trying new things.

My passion for New Leaf is a fire constantly stoked by the work itself. The evidence of our efforts springs out of the soil of our toil in big, green shoots; the curiosity and wonder of the children, the way we are able to help them develop independence as well as great friendships, and really the ability to instill in them, as they instill in me, a perpetual love of learning for learning’s sake. All of these things are so very precious and priceless that they are hard to put into words. The love the children have for the world ignites my own.