Cyndee Burkett, Registrar. Photo Courtesy of Julie Weltens.

Q: What is your position and how long have you had it? 

A: So, I am the registrar here at Cedar Park High School and I started here in 1998. I started in the district at Fabian Elementary and then when they opened Cypress Elementary, I moved to Cypress Elementary. After Cypress, I came here, when the school opened and I worked there until I moved [to Cedar Park].

Q: What is your favorite part about working at CPHS? 


A: I love working with high school students and helping them get ready for their futures and to be ready for college or trade school or going to work, whatever they’re wanting to do. I’m very supportive of each student and what their goal is. 

Q: What does the registrar do? 

A: So, the registrar registers and withdraws students, so kids coming in, moving into the area and kids moving out of the area are going to do something else. We handle all the grades, so as the teacher put the grades in, we’re the ones who put it into home access center, so y’all can see it and we handle transcripts that are sent to colleges universities, businesses, wherever you need a transcript to go, or if you just want to look at one, which is done through parchment.com and we fill those orders as fast as we can right now. We help with GPA and rank, we build transcripts for new incoming students, all their records from their school have to be transposed onto our transcripts, so a lot of our time is spent working with other schools.

Q: What did you do in college and where? 


A: So I didn’t go to college, but I graduated from Leander High School. When I left Leander High School, I stayed home and I had five children and then I started working for Leander ISD. 

Q: What made you interested in working as a student support staff member? 


A: I was working in the classroom as an IA, which is an instructional assistant, and that was what I did at Fabian and I did that at Cypress and then at Cypress, the registrar was leaving. She was going to a different position and I was interested in seeing how that worked, so I talked to her and then I applied for the job and got that job and when the high school was being built, I decided that I wanted to try to be a high school registrar and I got this position so I’ve had it ever since. 

Q: Can you tell me about one of your favorite encounters you’ve had while working here? 


A: What I really like is working with a student to get them on track for what they want to do for their education or work. When they come back to visit and tell us how they succeeded, I just love that.
It’s just so wonderful to see a student, a person and also all the teachers that we’ve had to come back that graduated from here and now they’re here as teachers, that’s lovely. 

Q: In high school, did you have a student support team and then did you ever visit them? 


A: We did, and yes, I had to go to them several times to help and to make sure I was getting the right courses to graduate. I had thought about going to college, but it didn’t quite go through. I really wanted to be a home economics teacher, that was my interest, but that just didn’t come to pass, but [the student support staff] were very helpful and told me what all to do, how to apply for college and all that kind of stuff. 

Q: What are the things that you want to know about you? 


A: I love to cook, I love to sew and I love working with people and just having conversations with people, learning all about them, where they’re from, about their culture. That’s important to me, and also, I love learning about where they descended from, like if you’re from another country, where did your family start? That’s all very interesting to me. 

Q: What is the most important thing you want students to know about their future? 

A: That you can make it whatever you want it to be. Anything you want to do, you can do it. You just have to put the time and energy and effort into it. 


Q: Would you call yourself introverted or extroverted? 

A: I’m kind of in between because I can be very introverted about certain things, but then I’m an extroverted when it comes to visiting with people and learning about them and talking to them. I don’t really like crowds, that’s not my thing. If it’s like a small group it’s okay, but really big crowds it’s not fun to me. That kind of is an introvert in a way. 

Q: What do you do outside of school and what are some of your hobbies and interests? 

A: I have grandchildren and great grandchildren, so I spend a lot of time with them and doing activities and things with them that they like to do. I belong to a church and I am really involved with my church and with our youth group. In December, I spent a week at a youth camp. Our last week of our vacation at a youth camp, cooking and cleaning for the teenagers and that’s kind of my thing, always working with young people. 

Q: What are some of your favorite TV shows and movies? 


A: Right now I love “High Potential.” That’s my favorite show right now, but I also like “Finding Your Roots.” It goes back to wanting to know where people came from. I am not a big movie goer, but I do like to watch Hallmark movies and anything romantic. I also like sci-fi, so that gets kind of thrown in there sometimes.

Q: Who has had the biggest influence on your life and career? 

A: I would say my parents, cause they supported me in everything that I wanted to do and were right there for me. We weren’t a wealthy family, so anything I wanted to do, [my parents] would have to really work hard to make it possible for me to do it. My parents were just there for me and guided me on what’s right and what’s wrong and how to live your life and how to work for others and do for others, how important that is.