The Rogers Public Education Foundation has chosen four outstanding honorees to be added to its Wall of Distinction this spring. This special honor will go to a Rogers High School graduate and retired business owner and community activist, Clarice Moore; longtime school photographer and education supporter, Phillip Martin; retired architect and school supporter Gary Jackson; and retired school administrator and local developer Gloria Hopper.
In announcing this year’s honorees, RPEF board president Kelli Gemmell said, ”We are excited to announce another outstanding class of honorees for the 2022 Wall of Distinction. We congratulate this year’s honorees and applaud them for their dedication to serving others through education. The community is invited to help honor these special individuals at a gala fundraiser April 21 at the Rogers Convention Center.”
Described by her former co-worker, Mark Kruger, as “The First Lady of Rogers High School,” Gloria Hopper served as vice principal at Rogers High School from 1994 until 2000. Prior to being in administration, beginning in 1969,she taught home economics, first at Rogers Junior High and later at Rogers High School .
Hopper earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees and her administrative certification from the University of Arkansas. From 1969 until 1994, she was a classroom teacher. In 1994 she became a vice principal at Rogers High School. In this capacity, she was responsible for teacher evaluations and supervised the high school secretarial staff. She worked with District Administrative personnel to improve the workload, available resources, student attendance tracking, and working environment of the office support staff.
Hopper’s involvement in education didn’t end when she left the classroom. In 2001 she was elected to the Rogers Board of Education where she served for five years. While on the board, she was instrumental in the Rogers School District’s joining the Lake View lawsuit to assure equitable funding and an adequate education for all Arkansas public school students. In 2006, Hopper received the Education Hall of Fame Award from the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to her career in education, Hopper remains active as an entrepreneur and developer. She and her husband Tom and son Blake developed the Scottsdale Shopping Center in Rogers and the subdivisions of the Pinnacle Country Club. They are the parents of three adult children, all graduates of Rogers High School. They have nine grandchildren. Gloria and Tom are long-time active members of First United Methodist Church of Rogers.
Gary Jackson established the Rogers office of Hight Jackson Associates as its sole employee in 1974. Through his leadership, he guided the growth of Hight Jackson Associates from an initial sole practitioner to a staff of 25 with a workload of over 100 million dollars in construction projects annually. His background as an officer and pilot in the USAF, a Vietnam veteran, and decades of practicing architecture brought a wealth of experience and knowledge to the firm.
Jackson extended his outreach into the community, volunteering his time and energy to enhance many local youth sports programs. He worked over 20 years as a spotter in the school football press box and basketball scorer’s table. He also helped develop and financially support the idea for the Arvest Hoopfest basketball tournament, now an annual event. He also supported radio broadcasts for athletic and school programs. Since 1994, Jackson has supported and contributed to the Community Scholarship Program. In 2014, Jackson was inducted into the Mountaineer Athletic Hall of Fame.
Jackson’s firm has provided architectural services for schools throughout Rogers, including the Blackie Bond Athletic Center, Lingle Middle School, Rogers New Tech High School, Rogers Heritage High School, and Hill, Reagan, Jones, Old Wire, and Darr elementary schools.
In addition to supporting youth sports programs, Jackson devoted much time and effort to community and civic organizations. He served on the Board of Directors of the Rogers-Lowell Chamber of Commerce. He is the former chairman of the Rogers Planning Commission and the former chairman and a current member of the Rogers Airport Commission. He a former member of the Rogers Noon Rotary Club in which he once served as president. Jackson is a former commissioner and chairman of the Arkansas Aeronautics Commission. He also served on the boards for the Samaritan Community Center and Rogers Little League Baseball. A retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Air Force, Jackson is also a long time member and deacon at First Baptist Church, Rogers.
Jackson and his wife Clare have three sons, Brian, Greg, and Aaron, all Rogers High School graduates. They have five grandchildren who all attend Rogers Public Schools.
Local businesswoman Clarice Strode Moore has been chosen for the 2022 Wall of Distinction because of her contributions to the Rogers community and for her accomplishments in the vinegar industry at a time when women were a rarity in industrial management.
Moore graduated from Rogers High School in 1952. She began her college career at Stevens in Columbia, Mo., then attended the University of Arkansas and later graduated from the medical tech school at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis. She graduated from Washington University in 1957 and worked in the research lab until 1961 when she married. The next few years were spent raising children Mary and Matthew before returning to Rogers in 1965.
In the 1960s and ‘70s Moore gained experience in the vinegar industry working with her father while simultaneously running tomato canning factories in Rogers and Pea Ridge. During this time, she also became interested in community affairs, serving on the Rogers City Council from 1977 through 1980. Moore’s father Frank was a nephew of Roscoe Hobbs, and in the late ‘70s she worked with the Hobbs family and the State of Arkansas to further the establishment of Hobbs State Park and Conservation Area. In 1981 she also was on the Centennial Committee that arranged the many events held in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Rogers.
After the death of her father in 1977, Moore took over management of the vinegar plant. She later partnered with Jack Cole to form a new company, Speaco Foods. After expanding with plants in other states, they moved the office from Rogers to Kansas City.
Speaco was sold in 2001 and Clarice enjoyed a brief retirement from business. But in Rogers and its historic downtown she soon found herself once again co-owner in a business venture, this time with her daughter, Mary. The Rabbit’s Lair was a fabric and fiber business that also offered classes. When the historic Applegate Drug Store was put up for sale, Clarice became concerned about its future and took it upon herself to purchase and preserve the building, which has since housed three businesses, Poor Richard’s Art, the Rabbit’s Lair, and The Gathering.
Since 2007 Moore has worked tirelessly to further historic preservation and business development in the historic downtown. She remains an active part of the downtown business community, was instrumental in establishing the downtown farmers market, and has also contributed financially to preserving downtown and Rogers history by donating generously to the Victory Theater restoration and the recent expansion of the Rogers Historical Museum. Her two children, Mary and Matthew, both RHS graduates, live in Rogers.
Although he is not a Rogers schools graduate, Phillip Martin has been chronicling the progression of Rogers public school students from kindergarten through graduation since 1990. In that year, Martin and his wife Rita moved to Rogers after purchasing the Northwest Arkansas territory of Davis/Pack and Associates Photography. Martin started a school photography business which was sold to Lifetouch in 1996, and he became the Territory Manager.
During Martin’s position with Lifetouch, his territory was consistently ranked in the top 25 territories in the United States and Canada. He was a member of the Lifetouch President’s Club for top performers multiple times. He was a Diamond Achievement winner for three years for business retention.
Even though he isn’t a graduate of Rogers schools, his two children are, and Martin has consistently supported education through the local Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale and Fayetteville Public Education Foundations. If there was an event, big or small, associated with schools, Martin was there to photograph. He also supported state education through the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators, Arkansas Rural Education Association, Arkansas School Board Association and the Arkansas Activities Association.
In 2013, the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation awarded him the “Apple Award” which stands for A Patron Providing Leadership by Example.
Martin retired in 2017 after working in the school photography business for 40 years. Currently he enjoys his retirement traveling and photographing nature and wildlife and volunteering at a food pantry. Martin and his wife have two children, Heather and Brian, both graduates of Rogers High School. They will welcome their first grandchild in December.
RPEF vice president Hunter Fry said, “It will be an honor to recognize this year’s recipients April 21 at the Rogers Convention Center. We are excited to celebrate all they have brought to not only the Rogers Public Schools system but to the city of Rogers. We look forward to a fun night celebrating their accomplishments.”
