APOPKA, Fla. — As students and teachers prepare to return to school next week, one Orange County Public Schools teacher is reflecting on industry changes over the years.
Betty Washington is preparing for her 52nd year with OCPS. We profiled her when she reached the five-decade mark. She teaches kindergarten at Apopka Elementary but has worked at more than 10 schools across the county during her career.
That includes teaching elementary, middle, and high school students, as well as GED, night school, and summer school.
“I just found my niche, and I stuck with it, and I never thought about turning back,” said Washington.
She started her career as a permanent substitute teacher at Wheatley Elementary in Apopka. She said that early experience helped prepare her for the rest of her career.
“It afforded me the opportunity to go to other schools later and be successful cause I looked at Wheatley like the learning ground,” said Washington.
Over more than five decades, Washington said she has seen classrooms change significantly, especially with technology.
“Pencil and paper, that era is over. The chalkboards, that’s over,” she said.
The shift began with limited access to computers and has continued as technology changes more quickly.
“When we started in ’75, we only had one computer, which was an Apple,” Washington said. “And it was slow, and now, technology changes within 15 days, 20 days, whatever.”
She said the role of teachers has also expanded since she began her career.
“When I first started, you were a teacher,” she said. “But now you’re the teacher, you’re the doctor, you’re the lawyer, you’re the nurse, you’re everything.”
As she begins another year in kindergarten, Spectrum News asked Mrs. Washington what advice she would give to herself back during her first year of teaching.
“Be firm, fair and loving. That’s the secret,” she said. “Gotta be firm, gotta have boundaries, but you gotta be fair, and you got to be lovable.”
Washington has no plans to stop teaching. Her dedication was recognized last year when she was inducted into Apopka’s Hall of Fame as Teacher of the Year.