Elizabeth Hancock

English/Creative Writing

Mrs. Hancock was born and raised in the busy area known as Southern California. She attended public schools in her hometown of La Verne, a small city about halfway between Los Angeles and San Bernardino. She has been reading voraciously ever since she can remember, and often got in trouble for reading instead of doing chores.

Mrs. Hancock fell in love with the art of writing and literature as a result of a unique--and DEMANDING--teacher she had her freshman and senior years of high school. Elizabeth says, "My senior AP English class was harder and more exhausting than any class I took at any college or university thereafter! Studying under such an exacting teacher taught me what "A-quality" writing really was, and that I had within myself the ability to produce excellent work." Mrs. Hancock bases her teaching style on lessons she learned in this teacher's class; her students know that "EXCELLENCE IS EXPECTED--Carpe Diem!"

After high school, she completed Cosmetology training to work her way through college (money was short in her family of ten), and then began taking "regular" courses. Mrs. Hancock was shortly accepted to California Polytechnic University at Pomona, and ultimately graduated from Brigham Young University, Provo, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Over the years Elizabeth has worked in many positions, including as aides for various schools and school departments, and was asked by her previous district school board to help select a new principal for its Middle School. She has served for numerous years in her church as a teacher in youth organizations and seminary; it is through those opportunities that she found an affinity and love for working with teenagers. Serving on district and site task boards was fulfilling, but she states emphatically that the best and most important job of all is one from which she'll never retire: motherhood.

She married David Hancock (yes, the one that works at RCHS), her "Knight in Shining Armor," in May, 1991, and they are the parents of five children, ages 20-5 years old. Mrs. Hancock is rarely found without a book (usually two or three), and reads almost everything she can get her hands on, including such things as shampoo bottles when she's desperate. She enjoys gardening, singing, and "creating", whether the medium be music, drama, food, fabric, or photos--all areas about which she continues to learn through her first love: READING. She has appreciated her first year at RCHS as an English and Foods teacher and Student Council Advisor, and looks forward to a rewarding second year with 7th grade English students, Creative Writing Students and class officers. GO MARSHALLS!