Hello
I’m Maria Cooper, and at my core, I’m a teacher. Teaching has been both my profession and my passion for over 30 years. I hold a degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction, and my heart has always been with children—especially those curious, full-of-wonder 4th and 5th graders.
Over time, my love for teaching grew into something even deeper—a desire to support and strengthen teachers themselves. I’ve seen firsthand the challenges educators face and the toll that constant giving can take. That awareness stirred something within me: a calling to care for the hearts behind the classroom.
After closing the door to my 4th-grade classroom at the end of the 2023–2024 school year, I stepped into a new chapter—one focused on serving teachers in meaningful and restorative ways. That calling became The Teacher Sanctuary: a place for educators to find renewal, balance, and peace for their minds, bodies, spirits, and souls.
"We must go and take the adventure that shall fall to us."
~C.S. Lewis
My Story: The heart behind the Teacher Sanctuary
For nearly thirty years, I’ve lived and breathed the classroom. I’ve celebrated students’ breakthroughs, carried their heartbreaks, and poured my whole heart into helping them grow. But over time, I began to notice something—something deep and unsettling. Teachers everywhere, myself included, were pouring out from an empty cup.
The joy that once fueled me was fading under the weight of exhaustion, expectations, and endless demands. I saw gifted, compassionate teachers—people who loved deeply—begin to lose their spark. And I knew that God was whispering something to my heart: “Restore those who restore others.”
That whisper became a calling. And that calling became The Teacher Sanctuary.
This audacious dream was born out of my desire to care for the whole teacher—mind, body, spirit, and soul. It’s a place where educators can breathe again… where they can find restoration, renewal, and shalom.
Here, we gather for learning, healing, community, strength, joy, and to remember who we are beyond our classrooms. Through professional development trainings, mentoring, wellness sessions, joyful community, and Bible study we are rebuilding what burnout has broken.
My hope is that every teacher who enters The Teacher Sanctuary feels seen, valued, loved, and restored. Because when teachers are restored, they carry that restoration back into their schools and into the lives of countless students.
This is more than a nonprofit—it’s a movement of renewal.
It’s a reminder that you are not alone.
It’s a home for your heart to rest.
Welcome to The Teacher Sanctuary—
where faith meets education,
and sanctuary meets the soul. 💛
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities to provide educators. Let's connect.