Jackie Tiffany has been a first-grade teacher at North School for 39 years. She is retiring at the end of the 2007-08 school year to take advantage of a generous severance package from Tracy Unified School District, but that hasn’t made leaving her students any easier. Photo by Glenn Moore/Our Town

For most, retirement is the target that hangs like an alluring sunset at the end of a long career path.

But for Jackie Tiffany, retirement after 39 years at North School is bittersweet.

“Teaching is my fun away from home,” explained Tiffany, a gentle-spirited first-grade teacher. “I still feel good, and I still love it.”

Tiffany halfheartedly declared her retirement to take advantage of the final year when teachers 55 years and older who have taught at least 10 years in Tracy Unified School District can receive full health benefits for 10 years post-retirement.

She is one of six longtime teachers at North School who will teach their last lessons in June.

Along with Tiffany, a surge of teachers, administrators and other staff are expected to retire by the end of this school year. So far, 44 district employees have told the district they’ll retire.

But Tiffany has been with the district longer than any other teacher saying goodbye this year.

And she has seen plenty of changes in education since she stepped in front of her first batch of first-graders in 1969. The kids are the same, she said, but technology in the classroom, state education rules and school lessons have changed.

Students are now required to know more at a younger age, Tiffany explained. First-graders used to need to be able to write a complete sentence by the end of the school year. Now, first-graders must learn to write a well-thought-out paragraph.

“You used to have more time to be creative,” Tiffany said. “It’s a constant battle to help students pass all of the state assessments.”

First-graders’ excitement for learning is what’s kept Tiffany from teaching other grade levels.

Throughout the school year, the 6- and 7-year-olds learn basic math and how to read and write.

“It’s a rewarding experience to know you’ve taught them. You feel important,” Tiffany said with tears in her eyes. “I’m going to miss that.”

North School has become Tiffany’s home away from home, according to North School Principal Fred Medina.

“She’s always here,” said Medina, who’s worked with Tiffany for eight years. “She’s just tremendously dedicated to working with her kids.”

He often catches Tiffany and her husband, John, in the classroom on evenings and weekends stapling papers, decorating classroom walls, typing parent newsletters and brainstorming creative methods for the next week’s lessons.

“I’m going to miss this, too,” said a teary-eyed John Tiffany, who’s become known as the “Popsicle Man” among students because of the treats he dishes out on the playground.

Jackie Tiffany and John, a retired IRS agent, will spend their time traveling and with their grandkids.

“If nothing else, I left a legacy with the hundreds of students who I taught to read,” Tiffany said. “It’s like the last of an era.”

The other North School retirees are 34-year teacher Shirlee Vierra, 30-year teacher Michael Vierra, 27-year teachers Barbara Reed and Judy Zuniga and 15-year teacher Larry Ausser.

North School will send off the retired teachers with a party next week.

• In the Spotlight is a weekly profile in Our Town. This week’s interviewer was reporter Danielle MacMurchy. To nominate someone to be In the Spotlight or to comment on this week’s column, call 830-4221, or e-mail This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it