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	Representative Steve Cookson District 153 Republican
Biography: Rep. Steve Cookson, a Republican, represents Carter, Ripley County and part of Butler and Wayne Counties (District 153) in the Missouri House of Representatives. He was elected to his first two-year term in November 2010. Rep. Cookson lives on a cattle farm and is a retired educator. He taught and coached for 15 years in southern Missouri. He was also the principal in Ripley, Carter and Wright Counties from 1994-2001 and the superintendent of Ripley County R-II from 2001 to 2010. As a superintendent, Steve received a Missouri “New Superintendent of the Year” award from MASA. Steve also served on the board of the Missouri Association of Rural Education, MSHSAA Administrative Advisory Committee and the state Beta Clubs Administrative Council. As chairman of the Three Rivers Community College Board of Trustees, he spearheaded a major scholarship program benefiting students of the region. In his earlier years, Steve played on a state champion high school basketball team and was a member of the Three Rivers Raiders team that placed third in the nation in 1978. Rep. Cookson is an avid outdoorsman. He demonstrates the Ozark folk art of building traditional Current River wooden John boats and carving sassafras boat paddles. He is a member of the NRA, N.W.T.A, Ducks Unlimited, Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Retired Teachers Assoc. and the Ripley County Retired Teachers Assoc. He and his wife, Joy, attend the Palace of Praise - Church of God. Rep. Cookson is a 1976 graduate of Advance High School. Steve is a graduate of the College of the Ozarks, where students must work a campus job to earn their education. He also obtained a Masters and a Specialists Degree from Southeast Missouri State University. Rep. Cookson was born June 26, 1958 in Dallas, Texas. He is married to Joy Rice Cookson and has a son, Tyler. He is a relative of Ronnie and Carroll Cookson who are inductees in the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.