SAN ANTONIO — Ever since her college days, Yvonne Rodriguez had a gut feeling.
"I was working with kids at the YMCA, and from there it was like, Oh, I like this." She immediately knew working with children would be in her future.
"Almost 30 years. Yeah, that's a really long time."
Three decades later and she's still with Edgewood ISD. It’s the same spot that kicked off her teaching career and her marriage.
“My husband's also a teacher. He's a coach. He teaches here. That's how we met." A meeting of the minds that led to the couple dedicating their life to serving children.
Rodriguez spends a lot of time in her Pre-K classroom at Cardenas Early Childhood Center now.
They sing, dance, go on nature walks and she even creates mini-centers for reading and learning.
"Now we're studying about jobs. One of my centers is going to be a veterinarian."
An important lesson that different jobs are for different folks. In fact this classroom isn't Rodriguez's only line of work. Target is her second passion.
"I do the pizza and the pasta, so it's like relaxing. I like putting pepperoni and counting."
Her part-time gig at the store she says has helped put her son through college.
But to this day she juggles both jobs, for the love of it. She enjoys speaking with her young co-workers at Target and being a mentor but also she admits, the temptation to shop for her classes there is endless.
“I want them to have a future. I want them to enjoy life because I feel that life has a lot to give."
Rodriguez says it’s been the best three decades of her life and she has no plans to retire anytime soon.
Ms. Rodriguez also received $1,000 from KENS 5 partner Credit Human as part of the KENS 5 EXCEL Award.