Mrs. Cook was born and grew up in Durham, N.C.  She moved to Raleigh in 1999.  She graduated from Broughton High School and then went on to attend Appalachian State University and received her BA in Elementary Education.  She began working at Root in the fall of 2007.  Later she attended Campbell University for a Master’s in Education.  She is married to Jakob, a Durham Firefighter and they have two children: LilyBeth and Trip.  Mrs. Cook loves teaching at Root. In addition to teaching, Mrs. Cook also enjoys movies, plays (Wicked!), bowling and family trips to the beach and the lake.

Mrs. Laycock began her teaching career in Durham  after graduating from Meredith College in 2011. She enjoys building relationships and learning alongside her first graders each year! As a child she was able to experience many parts of the country due to her father’s Army Career which fostered her love for travel. Mrs. Laycock studied abroad in London, England and worked as an Au Pair in Cork, Ireland after graduating from Meredith. Mrs. Laycock has spent the last 10 years teaching first grade in Wake County. In her free time, Mrs. Laycock loves to spend time outdoors with her husband and two sons, Quinn and Cope. 

Mrs. Hodnett was born in California and moved to Raleigh when she was 15 when her father accepted a job as a professor at NC State. Much to their surprise, her family loved Raleigh and living in the south. Upon graduating from Sanderson High School, Mrs. Hodnett attended NC State where she double majored in Business Management and Economics, as well as met her husband, Harold. She and Harold have 3 children, Melinda, Brandon and Matthew. When her children were at Root, Mrs. Hodnett was very active in PTA and found that she really missed being a part of the Root family once her children had moved on to middle school. She decided to apply for a position at Root as a Teacher Assistant and happily began working with the first-grade team in 2012. When not at Root, Mrs. Hodnett loves spending time gardening, cooking and traveling to the mountains.

Mrs. Stanton is from Virginia Beach, VA. She wanted to be a teacher since 3rd grade (thanks Mrs. Burgess, Kempsville Elementary). She received her BA in Elementary Education from Norfolk State University. She taught Kindergarten in Virginia Beach for 10 years. She moved to North Carolina in 2002 and taught 2nd grade until 2007 when she and her husband had twins, Audrey and Nathan, who have been students at Root since Kindergarten.  In 2014, she was fortunate to be hired as a first grade Teacher Assistant at Root. It was this experience, the first grade team, the staff and families at Root that inspired her to come back to teaching. 

When not teaching Mrs. Stanton enjoys spending time with her family and friends, loves being outdoors walking, and attending plays or musicals. She believes that salt air and sand can cure all her woes and loves the beach.  

Ms. Yancey was born in Raleigh and is so lucky to be an alum of Root Elementary.  She graduated from North Carolina State University in 2019 with a BS in Elementary Education with a STEM concentration. In her free time Ms. Yancey enjoys all things pertaining to her dog, Remy, as wells as running, watching documentaries and spending time at the coast. Ms. Yancey is excited to be back to Root as a teacher!