Bernice Sanchez began her career in Taylor ISD as an instructional assistant, working with young children with disabilities at Northside Elementary School.
She describes her work there as a job she loved with the best team of educators that included Kay McCuk, Carol Tharp, Alma Garcia and Kay Bishop. Now, 12 principals, four campuses and 28 years later, she is retiring as the registrar at T.H. Johnson Elementary School.
“Starting there was the best thing for me,” said Sanchez. “I loved the kids, I loved who I worked with. My principals and assistant principals were wonderful, and I loved taking our students into other classrooms for inclusion. I love my office job, but being with those kids brought me a lot of joy.”
During her breaks, Sanchez often stopped by the Northside office to help out wherever needed. Later, when Naomi Pasemann Elementary School opened, she applied to work in the office of that new school.
“(Tim Crow) hired me as the receptionist, and when Olga (Gonzales) retired, I took over as the attendance clerk,” recalled Sanchez. “But I always enjoyed going back to the life skills classrooms to help out when needed.”
Sanchez recalled several career highlights, including the opening of Naomi Pasemann Elementary School.
“Just to go through a new school opening up, and to have Mrs. Pasemann there,” said Sanchez. “We had no cafeteria. Food was brought in, and we were serving in front of the library. Then, at the end of that first year, we buried the vault (time capsule).”
Highlights at Northside Elementary School included the construction of the outdoor learning center with water play, rolling hills, tunnels, tricycle trails and a gazebo. There were also snow days, when truckloads of snow were brought in and dumped on the rolling hills for students to have a winter experience that they had read about in books but had never experienced in person.
As registrar, Sanchez said her priority was helping the school staff.
“I love my teachers, and whatever I can do to make their job easier is what I’m instilling in the person taking my place. I’ll miss sitting at my window and having the little ones come by. One year, I had a grandson here, and the whole class called me Nana Bernice. This year, I have a great niece here and they call me Aunt Bernice. I’m going to miss that. But, it’s time to move on.”
Now that she’s retiring, Sanchez plans to take care of her health and spend time with family.
“I have two older sisters who are retired, so I’m wanting to get us into the YMCA water aerobics to try and stay healthy,” said Sanchez. “I had a scare in March a year ago when I had a heart attack, so I want to take care of my health. I’ve never ridden a train, and I want to ride Amtrack to Garland to visit my son.”
For those just starting careers in education, Sanchez encourages them to be patient and love what you do.
“Nowadays, it’s a lot more challenging than when I started,” said Sanchez. “You have to have a lot of patience no matter what position or where you’re working. And, if you don’t love kids and you don’t love being around people, it’s not for you.”
After 28 years in Taylor ISD, former students are sure to recognize this beloved educator when they see her around town.
“I’ll go into the store and students tell their parents, ‘There’s our principal,’ because our little ones don’t always know the difference between a principal and the rest of us in the office,” said Sanchez. “It’s nice that they remember you, and hopefully you did something good they remembered.”
