Big fan of thriller television shows and lover of french fries, new teacher Mrs. Robyn Parratto has been teaching for twelve years and just recently moved from Orange County to teach Childhood Development and Culinary Arts at Rocklin High School (RHS). 

When she was growing up, she didn’t love school and only went because she had to. High school was a struggle between social pressure, working and keeping her grades up. Her first jobs included working at Adventure City Amusement Park and working in the Body Shop.

“[High school was] a lot of stress. I had to work two jobs and went to school full time in high school to pay for my car and all the things I wanted,” Mrs. Parratto said.

She went to Long Beach City College to get her associate’s degree before going to California State University, Long Beach to get her bachelor’s degree in history. To get her teaching credential and master’s degree in cross-cultural education, she went to National University. A few years ago, she went back to National University to get her second master’s degree in psychology.

Originally, her plan was to become a flight attendant, but it didn’t work out. Without the support of her parents who wanted her to learn to be independent, she wasn’t sure where to start. Additionally, she couldn’t rely on the internet to give her a starting point either. She later settled on becoming a teacher as she continued through college.

“As I put myself through school, I figured out that I had good college teachers and bad college teachers. I was like, ‘I could do this better’,” Mrs. Parratto said.

Her original plan was to teach history because that was her major in college, however, she found a passion in teaching home economics and culinary. As she started teaching as a home economics teacher at her old middle school, she realized she really enjoyed it.

She has taught for 12 years and has previously taught at Lexington Jr. High School in Cypress, Calif. and John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma, Calif. She learned about the job at Rocklin from her cousin Mr. Kevin Just, the music teacher at Granite Oaks Middle School.

In the classroom, she’s big on keeping things positive and supportive, and she makes sure every student knows that she cares. Her favorite part of teaching is the moment when a student realizes they can do something they never thought they could.

“That moment when they make a dish in culinary and are like, ‘Holy cow, I just made that’ and their feeling of ‘I can really do that.’ That’s my favorite moment,” Mrs. Parratto said.

In her own life, she regards becoming a mother as her favorite moment and the one that changed her life the most. When her daughter was born, her daughter took depended on her for care and love and was a part of her.

“[That moment changed my life] simply because my entire existence then was responsible for taking care of another human being and it wasn’t just about me anymore,” Mrs. Parratto said.

On the weekends, Mrs. Parratto enjoys the outdoors with her family of three. She lives with her husband, their 8-year-old daughter Charlotte and their two dogs. They love to bike, hike and kayak up in the foothills. 

“Mrs. Paratto is a very nice woman and a lot of fun to be around. She intends to make Child Adolescence a class where students can learn and have fun. Although Child Adolescence is a new class and she is still figuring out how to teach it, the content she has incorporated in it is fun and interesting to learn about,” Reilly Mckevitt said.

She values her students and gives freedom in the classroom while still supporting them. Students feel like Mrs. Paratto’s class contains a lot of interesting subjects and allows them to be creative with assignments. 

While teaching wasn’t the career she expected to love, Mrs. Paratto is a supportive teacher who cares strongly for all her students and is devoted to making sure that everyone knows they matter.