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NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Brad Cool knew that creativity started in childhood — with a pile of crayons. That was the inspiration for the three Bulldog Crayons that stood in front of the old North Platte High School until it was demolished in 2003.
Cool was an art teacher at the high school from the late 1970s to 1995, a mentor and friend to hundreds of students over the years. He gave art lessons to children, who later became his students at the high school, said his wife, Gail. She said her husband was proud when he was hired to work at his alma mater — Cool was born and raised in North Platte.
He died at age 62 in the early morning of June 30 after he overcorrected on a Wyoming highway near Wheatland and rolled his vehicle. Cool is remembered by his students and family, and lives on through his art, The North Platte Telegraph (http://bit.ly/1IkBDEm ) reported.
One of his former NPHS students, Doyle McIntosh, hopes to give back to the man who inspired him by trying to move the Bulldog Crayons to a more public venue than the yard at Osgood Elementary. The crayons were Cool's only monumental sculpture, McIntosh said, giant galvanized metal tubes shaped like crayons at the top. They were even once used as castles for a school dance, McIntosh said.
Gail said when the crayons were first completed, they were the tallest monumental sculpture in Nebraska west of Omaha. McIntosh said the crayons were completed around 1995, which is the year the Cools left North Platte for Casper, Wyoming. Cool also taught at Natrona County High School in Casper until 2009.
Tami Eshleman, associate superintendent for North Platte Public Schools, said the sculpture was moved to Osgood because the school had enough room to support the sculpture.
"And it was a little bit more appropriate at the elementary level," she said.
She said employees at NPPS were saddened to hear of Cool's death.
McIntosh said he doesn't think the crayons belong at a school anymore and that they're out of the way at Osgood.
"Wouldn't it be great as a community, students and friends to put them somewhere everybody can see them?" he said.
McIntosh took classes with Cool for four years as a Bulldog and was a member of the art club. Gail said for many students, the art room was a sanctuary.
"When you went into his classroom, the only rule was make Mr. Cool happy," Gail said.
Cool's cheerfulness and humor helped Cheryl Okubo get through high school and influenced her career path as an art therapist. Okubo currently lives in Japan but graduated from NPHS in 1981. She went to the school for two years after moving to North Platte. She said her family had broken up.
"I don't know how I would have survived high school if not for Mr. Cool's art classes," Okubo said.
She said Cool's passion for his students, giving them freedom to create yet providing them the tools and techniques, as well as accepting all his students and their artwork, built her foundation to pursue art education and therapy. She said all her elective classes were art — she couldn't get enough of his classes.
McIntosh, too, said he is considering art education, that he wants to give back by inspiring others to keep exploring their creativity. He thinks that is why Cool was always happy — he was building futures, not building profits or meeting a bottom line.
"Beyond teaching and art, he loved reaching out to his students," McIntosh said. "I never forgot him."
He said he wishes that in the last few years, he had reached out to Cool. It was coincidence that he was in North Platte for a service after Cool passed away, which was both sad and joyful as those in attendance told stories and laughed. Cool would have enjoyed those services, Gail said.
"Life is so short," McIntosh said. "And I think he understood that."
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Information from: The North Platte Telegraph, http://www.nptelegraph.com
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