Dreama-Dawn Cook
BS, MA, RID-NAD level III Interpreter Certification

Dreama Dawn Cook was born and raised in Charleston, WV. Dreama grew up an 'elected mute', so learning sign language helped her become a more verbal and successful adult.

Even as a young child, she had dreams and visions of one day, both teaching and working with deaf people. Little did Dreama-Dawn know these dreams would become her driven purpose later in life. Upon graduating from high school and accepting a job at the Post Office, she was excited to learn sign language from the deaf employees that worked there. After a few years here, Dreama decided to go to college to pursue her teaching career.

She graduated Cum Laude honors from Salem-Teikyo University with a B.S. in Phy. Ed. (Teaching) in 1986. Ms. Cook received a M.A. in Deaf Education (Teaching) from Western Maryland College in 1992. D. Cook completed some post-graduate studies in Clinical Psychology from Marshall University Graduate School. She also received additional training as an NAD Interpreter Assessment Team Panel member and an ESL Instructor. Dreama holds a RID-NAD level III certification in interpreting and a teaching certification in Deaf Education. Dreama served 4 years as a board member and secretary for D.E.A.F. of WV, Inc. a non-profit organization serving the DDD population. Ms. Cook is the creator and founder of the WV Deaf Youth Camp in 1988.

Ms. Cook has devoted equal time to her career as a Teacher of the Deaf and an Interpreter for the Deaf. Dreama has taught all ages deaf and hard of hearing students from pre-school to adults. She wrote a grant funded by the State Dept of Education for a special project in 1994 when a lot of the deaf, developmentally delayed were brought out of the institutions, to become their first teacher of Adult Basic Education. D. Cook’s teaching experiences range from mainstream education, to a regional program set up specifically for deaf pre-teens, to working in a School for the Deaf.

She has extensive interpreting experiences in mental health, educational, medical, and the religious fields. Dreama-Dawn has been blessed to been involved in a variety of interpreting situations from: weddings, heart surgery, counseling, funerals, domestic disagreements, babies being born, teacher trainings, legislature bills, job coaching, police academy training, prostate surgery, to AA and NA meetings. In WV, Ms. Cook worked closely with Deaf Preacher, Rod Burke to create an after school Bible study for local deaf children. During the summers, they traveled often to several states in conjunction with Deaf Missions projects such as: North American Christian Convention, Vacation Bible Schools, and an Ohio Deaf Camp. Dreama also served for a year as a Sunday School teacher to the hearing children that attended a Baltimore, MD Deaf Church under Rev. Peggy Johnson.

Dreama’s interests include: reading, grant writing, interpreting in oral, tactile, and limited sight situations. She is the assistant director of Deaf Camps of Maryland, Inc. D. Cook enjoys spending time with her family, when she can and is the mother of four (4) grown children and 3 ‘grand’ babies.