Several of Cooper's colleagues told about their experience teaching with her.
"I want to thank the board for the opportunity to honor such a great lady," Congressman Curt Weldon said. Weldon was "fresh out of college" when he taught for seven years in Darby and William Penn School District.
"She was a caring person that could reach out to the most difficult child to motivate, find good. She helped children with problems that were beyond the realm of the classroom. She really is indicative of this school district. You have great, great teachers," he said.
Weldon gave Cooper an American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol Building in her honor.
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Walnut Street School teacher Marilyn Mendte also told about teaching experiences with Cooper.
"She gives the Cooper Award every year but she's also given us a lot more. Sophia taught us how to keep joy in learning," Mendte said.
Lorraine Greenidge, 1980 Cooper Award recipient, said she "jumped at the chance to talk tonight." Being in Cooper's kindergarten class was "like going to school in grandma's house," Greenidge said.
When Cooper retired, Greenidge helped "dismantle" her classroom and took home sweet potato plants and a copy of the Declaration of Independence. "She was such a regal woman I was sure Thomas Jefferson had given it to her himself," she said.
"If I can touch anyone's life the way you touched mine, I will deem myself a success," she told Cooper.
Former Walnut Street School Principal John Marino told about meeting Cooper on his first day of teaching. "Sophia was unique. She had a child who wouldn't do anything, stood in the doorway, and wouldn't come into the classroom. They wanted to test him. She said why? He goes home and tells his mother everything. Two months later he came in and sat down. She said he'll be a genius. That was her approach to everything," Marino said.
Board President Thomas Blair and School Director Robert Tyler, both of Darby, presented a clock to Cooper.
