Elaine Watkins had not planned to become a teacher, but teaching seems to be her forte.

Watkins is a humanities and advanced placement U.S. history teacher at Sedona Red Rock High School — at least for a few more weeks. Watkins plans to retire from teaching in the Sedona-Oak Creek School District and move to Northern California near where her oldest son has settled.

“It’s beautiful there. I need to live in a beautiful place so my friends can come and see me. That’s my plan,” Watkins said during her prep hour.

Watkins started working in the district at its inception in 1991 and began teaching AP classes three years ago. Her first position was at West Sedona School. She took an assignment at the high school in 1998 but returned to the middle school in 2000 to teach language arts. In 2005 Watkins transferred back to the high school to teach U.S. and world humanities. Now, seven years later, Watkins is ready for a new adventure. Her last day is Wednesday, May 23 — graduation day for Sedona Red Rock High School.

For the full story, see the Wednesday, May 2, edition of the Sedona Red Rock News.