After 8 years of working in the Independent Learning Skills program and the Special Education department, Shugarte has decided to resign from her position to take a break from teaching. She plans to focus more on her family and spend more time with her daughters who are 4 and 7, but hopes what she has worked to build continues on without her as a legacy.
During her time on campus, Shugarte also worked to establish programs that increased involvement such as Best Friends Club, later renamed to Best Buddies Club, Independent Living Skills Christmas shopping and the Child Development III peer mentor program, as well as working closely with pre-existing programs like Unified Sports.
“I’m hoping that we created a legacy of inclusion and fun, where students feel welcome and safe and just truly enjoy their high school experience,” Shugarte said. “I’ve been a teacher at Rocklin for 19 years. It’s hard for me to walk away, but it’s also an opportunity for me to open a door to new experiences with my family, and it brings in new ideas and new passions to this room.”
Shugarte’s decision wasn’t made overnight; instead a variety of factors including her family led to her resignation.
“It really hit me last year when my oldest girl went to kindergarten, and all the things that she was starting to do with her elementary school that I couldn’t be there to do,” Shugarte said. I couldn’t volunteer in her class. I wasn’t able to go with her on one of her field trips, but I wasn’t able to take time away from this class to go support her at heart at her school.”
However Shugarte said she was comforted to know that the new ILS teacher will be someone just as qualified to teach ILS: former Woodcreek ILS teacher Mrs. Christine Val.
Val has spent the past few years working in the Rocklin Unified School District’s Adult Transition Program. She has experience working with the Best Buddies organization, and has collaborated with Shugarte on numerous projects in the past.
With her departure comes challenges for other teachers such as Mr. Matt Thompson, the ILS teacher in J3.
“I was sad [when I heard the news] but I know she’s got better things going on,” Thompson said. “I’m so happy for her overall. She’s gonna be a great loss, but we hired someone new that’s just as great, and we’ll figure it out, and we’ll make it work.”
Future Best Buddies Club President elect Grady Pool intends to continue Shugarte’s legacy after her departure.
“We’ll keep her memory alive and keep doing what she would want us to do, which is to spread inclusion and kindness and make sure everybody has a place,” Pool said.
While it was a difficult decision for Shugarte to make, she believes it is what’s most beneficial for herself and her family.
“This is hard — it’s hard for me to walk away,” Shugarte said. “But it’s also an opportunity for me to open a door to new experiences with my family, and it brings in new ideas and new passions to [J2].”
But this is not the end for her — only a break.
Shugarte said, “I’m not done teaching. I’m considering this a pause, but I’ll come back to teaching at some point, and if I can, I’ll come back to Whitney.”
by LEILA ALEXANDER, LARA DE VALK & EMMA PHOMMARATH
