They say a teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart. It’s a phrase that is especially true for one teacher who has been doing the job for more than 40 years: Ms. Annie Rocha.
“I love this school … It’s home. I’ve been here for so long, I feel like it’s my second home,” said Rocha.
She said this job is one that comes naturally.
“I think it was my calling, I love it. I love working with kids. Just, you know, get up in the morning and thinking about all these things I need to get done, need to do, need to work with them, so that we can get them ready for first grade,” Rocha said.
“She’s got the heart for kids. She’s got the heart for learning. She goes above and beyond. She’s the first person here every single morning,” said Wright Elementary School Principal Stacy Hurst.
In her 49 years at Wright Elementary, Ms. Rocha has taught generations of students and worked with several teachers and principals.
“I had her grandmother, and I had her grandmother and her dad … and now I have her,” said Rocha.
She specializes in teaching kids how to write.
“They love the aliens, you know, they wanted to talk about It. It’s all they wanted to talk about is aliens and what they look like,” Rocha said.
Every day, she sits down with students, and if they don’t do it right, then they erase and start over.
“I have to kind of motivate them and get them going to tell me more. Not just one sentence – you want to keep them going so that they can just, you know, keep on going,” said Rocha.
She says she doesn’t plan to retire any time soon. You can find her teaching kids, at the school she loves so much, for years to come.
“She is truly a legend here at the school,” said Hurst.
“I don’t feel like this is a job. I feel like I’m privileged to work here to work with these kids,” said Rocha.
