COPPERAS COVE, Texas — Central Texas is full of veterans who have found a way to continue giving back through a new job after leaving the military.
There are people like Heather Gutierrez, a proud U.S. Army veteran and fourth grade teacher at C. R. Clements/Hollie Parsons Elementary in Copperas Cove.
A classroom in Central Texas is home now, but her story begins on the beaches of Southern California.
”It was very busy — lots of moving,” Gutierrez said.
“I left California when I was about 16 and moved to upstate New York.”
Coming from a long line of military service in her family, she knew she wanted to serve, but not in the way the rest of her family had.
”My family is actually a military family. All Air Force though.”
"I’m the first and only person that joined the Army. I wanted to do that because it was part of my family, but also I was raised by a single mother, and I had no money for college.”
After a few years in the Army, she chose to take the uniform off for a worthy cause.
”I found out that I was pregnant with my oldest daughter one week after 9/11, and her father was deploying with 4th Infantry Division,” Gutierrez said.
“1st Cav. would have been next so, I got out to be a mom.”
Now she spends her days shaping the minds of the next generation as a fourth grade teacher, never losing that motherly instinct.
Her coworkers say her students will make sure they know that.
"Her kids are her family,” said Principal of C. R. Clements/Hollie Parsons Elementary School, Jennifer Robinson.
“They are the first to have her back. You can't say anything wrong about Ms. G because they're going to defend her tooth and nail."
With the new school year just weeks away, Ms. Gutierrez has a message for this year’s family.
”I am looking forward to meeting you. I can’t wait for school to start.”
“I am getting the classroom ready, I'm getting the desks ready, and I am trying to make an environment where you're going to feel safe and loved.”
Heather Gutierrez proudly served in the U.S. Army and now serves the Central Texas community in the classroom as Ms. G.
