SWU helps Cooley pursue true calling

After earning a psychology degree from the University of South Carolina, Johnny Cooley worked as a college minister at a church, then with a major wireless communications company as a manager of various offices in the Upstate. Working in management wasn’t fulfilling, so Johnny asked God to reveal his gifts.

“I thought working with youth would be good and I love science,” he said.

Cooley chose to continue his professional development at Southern Wesleyan University by entering the M.Ed. program. He had earlier enrolled in a special program at Clemson University for a secondary science certification.

Cooley is enthusiastic about his professors and classes at at Southern Wesleyan’s Columbia location.

“You demonstrate why you’re doing what you’re doing,” said Johnny, who also gets a lot out of reading articles from professional journals. “You have to reflect on that and how it prepares you in the classroom.”

Cooley was recently named Teacher of the Year at Irmo Middle School. He also recently achieved national board certification.