Mrs. O’Bryant-Hopkins

Remembering Mrs. O’Bryant-Hopkins

By Rosa Valentin-Bello and Aleyshka Barbosa

Mrs. O’Bryant-Hopkins was an asset to the Passaic High School Community, no doubt about it. Not only was she the Radio and TV Production teacher, but she was also the advisor of the African-American Club, a Homecoming organizer, and the Spirit Week coordinator. Here at PHS, we have a morning show called “Hot Topics” which featured her students in the TV Production class to showcase their editing skills, production and hosting.

Not only did she contribute to things we did here at PHS, but she was also an active member in her church and participated in many missionary outreach initiatives within the Linden area. Outside of school, Mrs. O’B lived a full life. She loved to travel, go to the movies, and try different restaurants. She enjoyed doing these activities with her husband and friends.

Besides her husband, friends and family, she loved her dog Boo Boo. She always made sure she made it to doggy day care in time to pick him up. She was extremely close to her brother and sister and they were a tight knit, small family.

“You don’t have to wait until night time to sparkle.” Indeed, this is what Mrs. O’B taught us as a fashionista. She would arrive to school in sparkly sweaters, eyeshadow, or even having her nails done to match her outfit! She even worked on a fashion show outside of school with Ms. Allen and did makeup for the models.

Ms. Allen couldn’t have said it any better when she said, “[Ms. O’Bryant] was an honest, hardworking, determined, energetic, bold, yet caring individual who would go above and beyond for you. This same energy was transferred in her classroom. If she made her mind up about something we all knew it was going to come to fruition because of her tenacity.”

This shows that Ms. O’B left her mark on the world in more than one way. Although we said farewell, her memory still lingers in our minds and she is forever in our hearts.