“I became a teacher, because I love helping people discover new things about the world and to help them grow,” veteran teacher Roxann Weber stated after she announced her retirement to students. After 36 years of dedication to the profession, Weber leaves behind a legacy of teaching students how to be better citizens in their society. Here is her story.

Weber has always been a Florida girl by heart, growing up in Lakeland, Florida. She attended Florida Southern College and the University of South Florida were she was able to obtain her bachelor’s degree in education. Later, she attended Florida Atlantic University and earned a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in education. After graduating, Weber became fully immersed into the teaching profession. The first school she taught at was Lake Gibson Junior High School in the Polk County School District, where she educated students in grades seven through nine for the school’s gifted program. While there, she also fell in love with social studies, which would follow her all the way to Palm Beach County.

Weber eventually moved to PBC, after two years in Polk County, where she began working at Dwight D. Eisenhower Elementary School in Palm Beach Gardens. She made great strides at the school, teaching at Palm Beach’s first full time gifted program. Later, she moved to the gifted program at Wellington Landings Middle School, where she shared her knowledge of science, reading, and social studies, and stayed there for nine years. She would later transfer to the newly opened Boynton Beach High School, where she taught for nine years and was able to meet many of her future colleagues that would end up at Suncoast, including AP Psychology teacher Dennis Spencer, AP World History teacher Kara Macsuga, yearbook teacher Stephanie Russo, and AP Human Geography teacher Deborah Sunset. After another six years teaching at Santaluces High School, Weber became a part of the Charger family when she moved to Suncoast High School.

“I’ve loved every minute of it [being at Suncoast]; it’s been wonderful. I love the kids, and I love teaching [AP US and Comparative] Government. It’s been really fun,” Weber reminisced.

Weber’s goal has always been to help connect students to their government and to make them more informed about the world around them.

Rayna Cook, a sophomore in one of Weber’s AP US Government classes, believes that, “Mrs. Weber cares deeply about the health of her students, and she goes out of her way to make sure that her students feel that she is someone to come to in times of distress. She treats her students with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and they return it.”

After she retires, Weber’s biggest challenge will be keeping her mind active and finding something new to occupy her freetime. “I’m retiring from teaching, but I’m not retiring from working. It’s an exciting challenge, not a worrisome challenge,” she said.

Weber confirmed that she will be leaving her home state to move to Georgia, where she will start the next chapter of her life. There, she plans to continue her stained glass hobby, become engrossed in many new books, and hike many mountains.

In a final message to her students, Weber wants them to, “find out what it is that you love to do, and find a way to incorporate that into your career, because if you have a career that you love, you will find more satisfaction going to work everyday.”

Weber has taken this statement to heart: she is leaving teaching, loving what she has done for the past 36 years.