High school graduates return to Ocoee Elementary

Noriah Cobbs, an Ocoee High School graduate, was in awe seeing her fingerprint looking like a leaf on a painted tree.

She recalled being in fifth grade at Ocoee Elementary School putting her fingerprint in green paint on the wall. 

The tree was to commemorate Cobbs and her classmates being the first graduating class from the new Ocoee Elementary building in 2014. 

Now 11 years later, Cobbs looked up at the tree in her high school graduation cap and gown and reflected on the years since she walked the halls of Ocoee Elementary. 

Cobbs held back tears as she and 27 other high school graduates participated in Ocoee Elementary School’s first Senior Walk. 

Graduates from Ocoee, West Orange, Olympia and Jones high schools, as well as Orange County Virtual School and Lincoln Park Education Center, were represented at the Senior Walk.

The graduates held the hands of Ocoee Elementary’s pre-K students as they paraded through the hallways, which were lined with the other elementary students cheering for them. 

The walk signified the beginning of the pre-K students’ educational journey as the high school students celebrated the end of their K-12 education. 

As the graduates and their little buddies walked the upstairs halls of the elementary school, students chanted, “Let’s go seniors!” Several elementary students held handmade signs congratulating the seniors on their accomplishments. 

Graduates high-fived elementary students, but when they saw the familiar face of a former teacher, it was like time hadn’t passed. 

When West Orange High graduate Charity Winchester saw Karen Castle, a third-grade teacher, she immediately pulled to the side of the parade to give her a hug. 

Tearful reunion

As soon as Kim Baer, a reading intervention teacher, saw the graduates entering the lobby of the school, she was fighting back tears. 

She couldn’t believe how much some of her former students had grown, especially as a few of the seniors towered over her. 

“It’s amazing to see how much they’ve grown physically, mentally and emotionally,” Baer said. “The sense of pride that I taught them to read and now they’re graduating is huge.”

Coordinating the Senior Walk was self-serving for Baer as it was an opportunity for her daughter and Ocoee High graduate, Lyla Baer, to see her former teachers and classmates. 

“She wouldn’t model the cap and gown for me, so (the Senior Walk) was the first time I saw her in it,” Baer said as her eyes filled with tears again. “It was very emotional, as you can tell. … It’s like my babies are grown up.”

Dorothy Gonzalez, a physical education aide, was in tears seeing her former students walking down the halls. As graduates approached her after the parade asking if she remembered them, she knew each of them and gave them a hug. 

After the parade, a group of nine graduates went to Keri Zemaitis’ classroom. She was their fifth-grade teacher when they attended the school. Zemaitis was all smiles and took a few minutes to reconnect with each graduate, asking them about their accomplishments, goals and plans for the future. 

“I was so impressed with their goals,” Zemaitis said. “It was neat to know that something that we worked on together hopefully paid off, and I had a small, little impact on them.”

As Cobbs walked up to some of her former teachers, she asked if they remembered her. After a minute, the teachers’ smiled from ear to ear and gave her a hug. 

“I didn’t know that I changed a lot in my face for them not to remember me (right away) until I said my name,” Cobbs said. 

Some of the graduates attended other high schools besides Ocoee High, making the Senior Walk an opportunity for them to reunite with their former classmates. 

Winchester said she went through her fourth-grade yearbook to familiarize herself with her former classmates. She then went on social media to see if she could find them now. Winchester said it was fun to reconnect with old friends.

Cherished memories

Ocoee High graduate Bruno Rodriguez-Mendez said he had to return to his elementary school. He wanted to see the halls, playground, the main entrance, everything. 

As he walked up to the front entrance of the school, he remembered being a little kid sitting down on the side of the walls waiting for him to be picked up from school. 

“I just really wanted to be here to relive the moments,” he said. “As a bonus, I did see my fingerprint and my name on the wall.”

The graduates picked up on the differences and similarities in the school compared to when they walked the halls. 

Riley Jones, an Ocoee High graduate, said it was “extremely unreal” to be back at his elementary school.

“(Elementary school) feels like it was ages ago and now I’m back,” he said. “It feels the same but different. There’s tiny, little differences. There used to be a pillar in the media center with books around it. Surprisingly, we saw the same janitor (Carl Persaud) after all these years.”

Walking down the halls of the elementary school, Cobbs said everything felt smaller than she remembered. She said the wall colors were the same, but she noticed small differences —such as the classroom doors having doorbells. 

Other graduates laughed at memories of shopping at the holiday shop the school puts together every year or the book fair. 

They remembered the Smencils, the pencils with different scents, they purchased. 

Rodriguez-Mendez remembered being in kindergarten and wearing a pirate costume to school for Halloween. He wanted to impress his classmates, but the costume started ripping from the back. He was in tears while his classmates comforted him and complimented his costume. He recalled feeling the happiness of being surrounded by and comforted by his classmates. 

Lasting impact

Before the parade, graduates had the opportunity to talk to the pre-K students. 

Rodriguez-Mendez showed his pre-K students his salutatorian and AICE medals, hoping to serve as a role model for what they can accomplish in their futures. 

Ocoee High graduate Kevin Martinez showed off his tattoos to his pre-K students. They were amazed at the “drawings” on his arm. 

Rising Ocoee High seniors Christopher Cummings, who is Mr. Ocoee 2026, and Anai Demings, who is Miss Ocoee 2026, showed their pre-K buddies their crowns. 

The graduates said they hoped to be role models for the pre-K students as they begin their K-12 education. 

Talking to the pre-K students also gave graduates time to reflect on their own accomplishments. 

“I used to think in first or second grade that by the time I graduate, I’m going to be skin and bones,” Rodriguez-Mendez said. “Now, I’m a senior graduate. I just feel so old, but I also feel so proud of myself. I’m proud of myself and hopeful for them because I saw so much potential in them. they’re so bright, and they’re so young.”