Stephen drums up an Olympic chance (From Echo)

Stephen drums up an Olympic chance

2:40pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Southend

A TEACHER has been chosen to perform in the opening, and closing, ceremonies of the Olympics.

Stephen Cook, 38, of Chase Gardens, Westcliff, will drum at the special events after impressing judges during the intensive audition process.

He first took up drumming while he was a sixth form student at Shoebury High School and it has been a passion ever since.

In 2000 he was in a band called Fiction, who performed at venues across south Essex and even recorded in the BBC studios in London, but this will be a new highlight for him.

He said: “I have played at a lot of venues, but obviously nothing as big as this. Nothing compares to 2.45billion people!

“I just love the Olympics and to think I’m going to be there on the opening night, and also the closing night, is just incredible.

“I don’t think I’m going to be massively nervous.

“There are going to be 800 drummers from around the world, so I just have to concentrate on myself.

“Everyone thinks it is just so typical of me. My friends keep asking how I managed to pull this one off. Everyone is just over the moon.”

Mr Cook taught geography at Southend High School for Girls, the Deanes School and was also part of the senior leadership team at Cecil Jones College before leaving last year.

He has retrained as a maths teacher and works on a freelance basis, regularly taking lessons at the Cornelius Vermuyden School, Canvey.

Mr Cook added: “If I was still working full time at a school I probably wouldn’t have even applied for this, because of the commitment involved.

“I don’t think opportunities like this come up very often. I have been playing for 20 years so I thought ‘why not?’.”

With just five months to go before the opening ceremony, Mr Cook is now throwing himself into rehearsals during his spare time.

Despite being ecstatic at the chance to represent his country during the London 2012 Olympic Games, Mr Cook spends a lot of time abroad on humanitarian aid missions.

His wife Laura Cook, 30, is a talented photographer who has worked with some big names, but is particularly interested in capturing images which give us a unique insight into the lives of people in Third World countries.

The couple are now planning to move overseas, but Mr Cook has vowed to keep up both his drumming and teaching, hoping to work in schools abroad.

He added: “I think at the moment we both just live really crazy lives.”