Cobb County

Amazing Educator! Cobb County teacher celebrates 50 years in the classroom

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — It's been 50 years since U.S. astronauts first walked on the moon, Sesame Street debuted on TV, Tyler Perry was born -- and a special teacher began her career in Cobb County.

This week, Annette Hansard is celebrating the amazing milestone of working for five decades in the classroom.

Channel 2's Berndt Petersen was in Marietta, where he sat in on Hansard's history class.

Hansard is a living legend at Osborne High. In fact, one of the school buildings is named after her.

She said it all started so fast. She graduated from college on a Thursday in 1969, got married that Saturday, and started teaching at Osborne Jr. High in Cobb County the following Monday.

"The very first day I walked into a classroom, I loved it," she said.

A few years after she started teaching at Osborne Junior High School, the district moved the ninth graders to Osborne High School, where Hansard has been ever since.

Tyler Martin was one of her former students. Today, he is a fellow teacher.

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​​​​"I think if you ask a lot of the teachers at Osborne who inspires them the most, it would be Annette Hansard," Martin said. "Sometimes it takes a little nagging. Sometimes it takes a little fussing. Sometimes it takes tears. Sometimes it takes a smile and a hug. Annette has it all, and she does it all."

One of Hansard's favorite moments is when they named a building at the school in her honor.

"He said, 'Read the name on the building.' It had Annette Gibbs Hansard on the side," Hansard said. "I looked at him and I looked back, and I said, 'But I'm not dead!'

Hansard told Petersen she's isn't about to retire either.

"It's the joy of teaching every day," she said. "It's the joy of dealing with the kids. It's seeing them grow up."