Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal: Ocoee Elementary registrar to retire

Ocoee Elementary School staff like to tell their fifth-graders before moving onto middle school, “Once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal.”

That couldn’t be more true for longtime registrar Betty Hopper. She attended the school herself in first grade before returning to her elementary school years later volunteering as a parent before accepting a full-time position with the school. 

For 27 years, Hopper has sat at the front desk and was the person to greet anyone who walked through the door. She answered countless questions, enrolled thousands of children and helped any way she could. 

She has seen generations of families start their educational journeys at Ocoee Elementary, just like herself, her three children and seven grandchildren.

She has been there to celebrate dozens of fifth-grade classes as the school conducted a clap-out for them on the last day of school.

This year’s clap-out will be more emotional as Hopper will say goodbye to her final fifth-grade class at the end of the school year as she retires. 

But once a Cardinal, always a Cardinal.

Always a community

Although she doesn’t remember many of her days as a Cardinal herself, Hopper recalled being an Ocoee Elementary student while it was a junior/high school as well. She didn’t attend kindergarten because it wasn’t a requirement as it is today.

She remembered the wooden floors creaking and the glass doorknobs in the old building dating back decades earlier. The bus rides weren’t solely for the elementary students but also for the junior and seniors of the high school, leading to a sense of community as the older students looked out for the younger ones.

She remembered her bus driver, Mr. Powell, always wore a fedora and would stop at the donut shop on East Silver Star Road to buy donuts for all the students every day.

“That wouldn’t fly now, because we would all sit on the bus and he would run in and get donuts,” Hopper said. “It was a very different time.”

She recalled watching her brother, who was a student in the high school, participate in the annual bike races around the football field of the school, a tradition at the school. 

Hopper, 62, has lived almost her entire life in Ocoee. 

After graduating college, Hopper’s ties to Ocoee Elementary deepened when she enrolled her own children at the school and began serving as a room mother in 1988. 

Her children went to the new Ocoee Elementary School before it was rebuilt and reopened in 2014, and she served as a registrar in the new building, seeing Ocoee Elementary in all of its iterations. 

Along with being at the school in some shape and form during its different eras, Hopper has spent that past nearly three decades seeing generations of Ocoee families walk through the door and register their children for school with her help.

Photo by Liz Ramos

A helping hand

Hopper’s plan for her career wasn’t always to be involved in education. She graduated from college with a degree to become a certified nursing assistant with dreams of helping the elderly population. 

But she realized her dream was different: She just wanted to work with children. 

The dream became more evident when she served as a room mother, helping the children learn to read, decorating bulletin boards, planning parties and doing anything the teachers asked of her. 

Her dedication and support of the school turned into an offer for a full-time job as a paraprofessional in January 1999 followed by a position as the school registrar in July 1999. She jumped at the opportunity, despite not knowing anything about computers. She admitted she didn’t even know how to turn one on. 

But her determination not only to do the job but also do it well drove her to teach herself how to use the computer and the systems involved. 

As the registrar, Hopper always strives to give an excellent first impression, being the person with a smile on her face and a kind heart ready to answer questions and help families prepare for the school year ahead. 

“I know all the families,” Hopper said with pride. “Personally. I have a lot of children (who) come in pretty much every day to hug me and check on me. My own granddaughter does. I will miss that. I kind of look out for people’s children.”

In addition to her own kin, Hopper has seen children she once registered years ago return to register their own children as generations continue to call Ocoee home. 

As news of her retirement has spread, Hopper said she’s received numerous messages from parents saying they wish she would wait to retire as they have a few more children to enroll and they wanted her to be there when they did. 

“That makes me feel good that people feel that way about me; that does my heart good,” Hopper said. 

Parents have shared how they have appreciated her kindness and being that person they can count on for support. 

Her motto is simple: Treat people the way you want to be treated.

It’s a lesson she hopes Ocoee students and staff will take with them after she’s retired. 

Hopper received a phone call at the school from a former student who thanked Hopper for the countless days she spent talking to the student as they sat together in her office. 

The student, now an adult with her own children, expressed to Hopper that she wasn’t sure she would “be here today” if it weren’t for Hopper. She said nobody talked to her the way Hopper did. They both reminisced on what Hopper would say every time the student left her office.

Hopper said she always told the student “capiche” and she would respond, “capiche.” The student told her she does the same with her children now, bringing tears to Hopper’s eyes. 

Hearing the story made her “heart smile,” Hopper said. It was the best phone call she had ever received sitting at the front desk of Ocoee Elementary. 

Although Hopper won’t be the first person everyone sees as they walk through the doors of Ocoee Elementary, she said she’ll still be visible at the school, coming back to volunteer as her grandchildren continue to attend the school. 

Bittersweet goodbye

Hopper will cherish the moments of laughter and joy throughout her tenure at the school. She’ll remember the students and staff going all out to celebrate holidays and dress up for spirit days. 

As many know, “Kids say the darndest things,” and it was no different for Hopper. One time a few years ago, she had dressed in black from head to toe because it was the color office staff was assigned for a kindergarten spirit day.

“One of our little kindergartners said, ‘Oh my God, I did not know you were the black ninja,’” Hopper said laughing at the memory. “That was the best. I laughed and said, ‘Well, I didn’t know I was either.’ … That truly is my favorite.”

Hopper said she will miss the people the most — the community of love and support that has been by her side through some of her tougher moments as she has dealt with medical issues. 

She has loved seeing graduating seniors return to their elementary alma mater to participate in the Senior Walk. Some of the students remember Hopper and thank her for all she’s done for them. One senior brought her flowers last year. 

Despite her 27 years sitting dedicated to the same school and helping thousands of families, Hopper doesn’t see it as leaving a legacy but rather simply doing her job. 

She hopes if she has any legacy to leave, it’s one of kindness and treating others the way she wanted to be treated.