Growing up as the oldest of 10 children in a small tobacco farming community in Kentucky, former Lake Orion teacher Edna Cucksey Stephens says her love of reading made her who she is today.
That love has also led her on her career path, resulting in her recently being named The Michigan Reading Association’s 2005 Educator Literacy Award winner.
The award is given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to literacy in Michigan.
Cucksey Stephens is president and author for a successful Auburn Hills educational publishing company, EDCO Publishing. It does children’s books, teachers? workshops, and creates custom education programs, such as Michigan L.A.P.’s.
L.A.P.’s (Learn from the past, Appreciate the present and Preserve our outdoor heritage) is a partnership with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, using the state’s parks to teach about Michigan’s history and natural resources.
The program is currently used in 85 percent of Michigan schools.
‘We have targeted 10 state parks that tell the state’s history,? Cucksey Stephens explained. ‘This fall, we will add a new unit on Tricentennial Park in Detroit.?
EDCO is also working with the DaimlerChrysler Museum on a program that will talk about the company’s merger and the social and cultural implications of the automobile.
‘It will be a fourth-sixth grade program, as well as exploring auto careers for the middle and high school levels,? Cucksey Stephens said. ‘In the coming year we will also have a program on the global economy.?
EDCO’s motto is ‘created by teachers, for teachers,? and Cucksey Stephens employs a number of former teachers in the Lake Orion School District.
Cucksey Stephens started EDCO in 1997 after she took an early retirement from Lake Orion Schools. During her career there, she taught first and second grade and special education at Blanche Sims Elementary School, as well as serving as a reading consultant for K-5.
Cucksey Stephens did her undergraduate work at Western Kentucky College, and earned her teaching degree from Oakland University. She came to Lake Orion with her first husband.
‘I decided to start EDCO because I felt there was a bigger world out there than my classroom,? she said. ‘I had experience helping to write teachers? manuals, and got an opportunity through Buck Wilder books.?
In 1998, EDCO started the L.A.P.’s Program, assisted by former Lake Orion teachers Barbara Miller and Diane Farstvedt.
‘The program is in its sixth year, and about one million kids have gone through it,? Cucksey Stephens said. ‘We are in our second year with a program for Ford, ‘Michigan on the Move.??
Today, EDCO is much more than Cucksey Stephens ever thought it would be.
‘We have other states who are interested,? she said of the L.A.P.’s Program. ‘I wanted to write children’s books, and I’ve done two.?
Cucksey Stephens also had a goal of helping teachers use literature to teach across the curriculum.
‘There weren’t a lot of books when I was growing up,? she said. ‘I got them from the book mobile, and I went to a one-room schoolhouse until fourth grade.?
Cucksey Stephens knew she would become a teacher at age seven, and that she helped teach her younger siblings.
‘I had a really inspiring teacher at my one-room schoolhouse,? she said. ‘Her name was Miss Elizabeth. I wrote to her through college, and she always encouraged me to follow my dream.?
Cucksey Stephens and her husband Mark Stephens live in Orion Township, and she has two children, Scot and Cari Cucksey, who work with her at EDCO.
‘Scot was a golf professional and now he does sales and marketing for us,? she said. ‘Cari does media and computer work for us.?
Cucksey Stephens also has a sister, Martha Ruebelman, working with her at EDCO. Other former Lake Orion teachers working there include: Sandy Downey, Cathy Zajkowski, Carol Schlicht, Gwen Kluesner, and Paula Spencer.
EDCO is working on several new children’s books, including one with Lake Orion woodcarver Gary Elzerman, to be called ‘Connor the Carver Carves Michigan Symbols.?
‘We are also doing custom curriculum for other states,? Cucksey Stephens said. ‘And we are working on a corporate sponsorship with the SuperBowl, ‘Michigan Cool Cities,? and we’re doing something on the history of Oakland County.?
Cucksey Stephens said she encourages parents to read to their children as often as possible, and to ‘ask good questions.?
‘And read for fun,? she said. ‘Reading took me beyond my surroundings when I was growing up. Parents should model reading for their children instead of watching TV.?
EDCO also offers an Outdoor Explorers Club for kids 12 and under, who can sign up to receive free newsletters four times a year at www.outdoorexplorersclub.com.
EDCO has gotten national acclaim as Tim George, a.k.a. Mr. Etch-A-Sketch, has appeared on Good Morning America and The Today Show to promote his book of the same name that was published by EDCO.
Cucksey Stephens said one of the people she looks up to most is Professor Dorsey Hammond of Oakland University, who won the Educator Literacy Award three years ago.
‘I never thought I’d measure up to him, except at playing tennis, which I always beat him at,? she said.
EDCO has a website at www.edcopublishing.com.