CEDAR HILL, Texas — Pennie Williams and Victoria Roberson will miss not greeting each other every morning the way they have for more than 15 years.
Williams, a Waterford Oaks Elementary School pre-K teacher, and Roberson, who’s been the pre-K paraprofessional in Williams’ classroom since 2007, are both retiring.
“We know each other like the back of our hands,” Williams said. “I call her the other part of my brain. We’ve worked together for so long that we complete each other’s sentences and thoughts.”
Williams and Roberson have collaborated for so long that their first group of scholars is currently in college. They said they often see those scholars around Cedar Hill. Their former scholars are quick to remember their pre-K educators.
When Williams and Robinson first started working together, Twitter had been invented just a year earlier and the Cedar Hill High Football Team had just won its first state football championship. MySpace was a popular social media site at the time, and the Texas Rangers were still a few years away from consecutive World Series appearances.
Roberson said it’s fitting that they’re retiring at the same time. She had planned to retire last year, but when she heard Williams was coming back, she decided to stay as well.
“She’s the teacher who taught me so much,” Roberson said of Williams. “She’s been a pillar at this campus.”
Williams is finishing her 37th year as a teacher. She taught in Dallas ISD for 14 years and then came to Highlands Elementary in 2000. She moved to Waterford Oaks in 2007.
In retirement, Williams said she plans to expand her fledgling craft business, and Roberson will work part-time at an office.
“Pennie could be an interior decorator,” Williams said. “She’s always making signs for the teachers and her colleagues.”
Williams and Roberson said they will continue to spend time together outside of work, but they’ll miss that classroom connection.
“She always reminds me of the things I need to do,” Williams said.