Thursday, October 1, 2026
They say one never forgets their first — semester of teaching, that is. At least that’s the case for Granbury Independent School District’s newest ag teacher, Raychel Affonso.
Affonso has just completed her first semester as a GISD teacher, following several semesters of substituting.
She primarily serves at Granbury Middle School, where she teaches three periods of Principles of Agriculture, two periods of Project Success, and a career-development class.
However, the middle and high schools have split custody of Affonso’s day. Her last class of the day takes her to Granbury High School, where she teaches small animal and equine science.
According to Affonso, she began working in ag about the time she began walking, as she was born to a ranching and roping family living in rural California.
“I grew up on a small farm out there and took all of the ag classes when I was in high school, and I really enjoyed them, and I was like, ‘I don't think I want to leave it,’” Affonso said.
When she graduated from high school, Affonso enrolled in Cal Poly, where she originally intended to become a pest-control advisor. To achieve this dream, she started down the plant-science path, but soon realized she missed the field she was raised in — no pun intended.
“I was like, ‘You know what, I really enjoy learning about agriculture. I love both plants and animals, and I think I want to go back to that,’" Affonso said. “So, I took the ag-education route, and by my junior year was like, ‘I think ag teaching is for me,’ and then I kind of stuck with it after that.”
Following graduation, Affonso and her now-husband followed his family to Central Texas. She admitted the culture of Hood County is a bit different than California, but to her it's all for the best.
“I love it. It's a big change, but we love it,” Affonso said. “It fits our lifestyle a little bit better, too. We had a little bit of that (agriculture) out in California — we lived out in a small town — but out here, it's just way bigger, and there’s so much more for us to do.”
Affonso said she began her teaching journey as a substitute teacher at GHS, where she taught numerous subjects and had the chance to interact with nearly all the campus' students.
It was the sheer number of students she got to interact with daily that made Affonso’s tenure as a substitute for GISD so fulfilling and made her want to continue with the district.
“I started out at the high school, and so it was fun getting to see every single kid because I was in so many different classes every single day — that's what I loved about it — I got to meet so many new kids,” Affonso said.
However, the scattered schedule of substitute teaching and having to learn and teach new material every day got old, and Affonso admitted she is so grateful to have established more solid roots in her tenure as a GISD teacher.
“It (subbing) was just kind of hard,” Affonso said. “You know, being in a new classroom every day and trying to step into that role of being a teacher was a little bit challenging. Now that I have my own class and my own kids, it's really made such a difference and has made it so much easier.”
But it's not just the more stable schedule that’s made Affonso’s transition easier — she also cites the supportive and engaging community of teachers and staff at GISD for her good first semester.
“I mean, with a younger teacher kind of deal, I try to bring in my new ideas, and I feel like everyone is so open to me being here with those new ideas,” Affonso said. “I love the staff here. I think they're all so amazing.”
However, while she now may be a full-fledged teacher, that doesn't mean she doesn't still have a few things to learn.
One thing she began improving during the fall semester was developing relationships with her students’ parents and filling them in when their students did something good, not just when there may be cause for concern. She said this is a skill she wants to further develop not only through the spring semester, but during the rest of her career as a teacher.
“I think it's really important to talk to parents and build that community,” Affonso said. “I want to try and talk to those parents more often when I have something positive to say, because I really think that connection is good. I did it a couple times last semester, and I saw a good impact with that, so I think this semester I'm going to try and keep that positive communication going.”
