EDUCATORS:
McKray said she has been too busy to formally decide how she plans on spending her retirement, but she has enjoyed her years at various schools in the Yuba-Sutter area.
She has seen some changes in students today verses more than 30 years ago, mainly due to technology.
“I think children nowadays are more independent and they know more about the world around them,” she said.
But she has also seen a change in best practices for faculty, staff and administrators.
“We’re learning more and more about how children learn, and that changes how we teach,” McKray said. “We’re always trying to keep up with the amount of information that is available to us as a learning community. Counselor: River Valley High School
– Yuba City Sue Himmah, 62, started as an elementary school teacher, but wanted more one-on-one interaction with students, so she became a counselor. Himmah celebrated the inaugural class of River Valley High School in 2008, with the Class of 2017 being her last.
“The district has really been a second family to me as far as the staff at each site,” she said.
Himmah said as a counselor she helps high school students with their academics, social needs, emotional needs and career readiness.
In her off time, she said she enjoys scuba diving with her husband. During winter break, she can be found in Fiji or Belize.
She said her first trip once retired will be to Cour d’Alene, Idaho.
“It’s the first getaway trip to relax,” Himmah said.
She plans to fly-fish with her husband and enjoy some quality time with her black Lab.
Her observations of students through the years has been an uptick in community college and four-year university applications.
“That’s wonderful that kids are looking at higher education for their future,” Himmah said. “We guide students to meet whatever their goals are.”
She said her send-off is the master schedule, which assigns teachers classes and periods for the next school year.
“It’s like putting together a puzzle the way we place classes,” she said.
Seventh-grade science teacher: Yuba Gardens Intermediate School
– Olivehurst Pat Paulo, 61, admired teachers from a young age growing up in Southern California.
“As a poor kid, I didn’t know too many other professions, so I thought teaching would be a good one,” Paulo said.
Her favorite subject to teach is genetics. She believes students respond best to a passionate les- son plan.
“I think the kids know I really like genetics because whenever I teach it they do really well,” she said. “I had teachers I admired and I thought that would be a great career and it has been.”
Her plans after retirement are to return to Southern California and see a Padres game in San Diego.
She and her husband moved to the Yuba-Sutter because they had family living in the area. They timed it just right to coincide with their son’s enrollment in K-12.
“We had decided that by the time he was read to go to school we were moving north,” she said.
Paulo joked that her son’s graduation from Chico State and her retirement was also planned.
She said it was stroke of luck that she was hired in MJUSD.
“Education is like a pendulum, things swing back and forth all the time,” she said. “When you’re in the classroom with your students, you try to teach the kids what they need to know, whether it’s manners or the curriculum.”