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![Barbara Franques, right, began her career with the Hillsborough County School District as a first-grade teacher in 1971 at Springhead Elementary School. With her are Hank and Pat Varnum. It was in Pat Varnum's class at Pinecrest Elementary School that Franques first taught as a student teacher. "I thought she was great," Pat Varnum said. "I knew she was going places and I'm not surprised [at her success]. She's a go-getter."
Franques went on to become a school principal, first at Gibsonton Elementary, in 1986, and then at Bryan Elementary School, in 1987. She also was the charter principal at Walden Lake Elementary School, which opened in 1991. In March 1998, Franques was named one of the district's Area Directors, which essentially put her in charge of a geographic area of schools that today includes Durant, Newsome, and Plant City high schools as well as Strawberry Crest High School, which is under construction and slated to open in August for the start of the 2009-10 school year.](http://www.mypapernow.com/Other/Durant-Seniors-Graduate-Long/i-s2kQCtp/0/Ti/DSC_0733-Ti.jpg "Barbara Franques, right, began her career with the Hillsborough County School District as a first-grade teacher in 1971 at Springhead Elementary School. With her are Hank and Pat Varnum. It was in Pat Varnum's class at Pinecrest Elementary School that Franques first taught as a student teacher. \"I thought she was great,\" Pat Varnum said. \"I knew she was going places and I'm not surprised [at her success]. She's a go-getter.\"
Franques went on to become a school principal, first at Gibsonton Elementary, in 1986, and then at Bryan Elementary School, in 1987. She also was the charter principal at Walden Lake Elementary School, which opened in 1991. In March 1998, Franques was named one of the district's Area Directors, which essentially put her in charge of a geographic area of schools that today includes Durant, Newsome, and Plant City high schools as well as Strawberry Crest High School, which is under construction and slated to open in August for the start of the 2009-10 school year.")
Navy, Vegas gold, white, and green: colors that signify the Cougars of Durant High School, just one among many schools in the Hillsborough County School District engaged this week in the ritual of graduation. Durant conferred diplomas on its 13th graduating class, which numbered close to 600 students. On the stage at the Florida State Fairgrounds with her trademark smile was Barbara Franques, celebrating her last graduation as a school district employee. Franques, the area director of Eastern Hillsborough County schools, will be retiring in December after close to four decades as a school district employee.
Navy, Vegas gold, white, and green: colors that signify the Cougars of Durant High School, just one among many schools in the Hillsborough County School District engaged this week in the ritual of graduation. Durant conferred diplomas on its 13th graduating class, which numbered close to 600 students. On the stage at the Florida State Fairgrounds with her trademark smile was Barbara Franques, celebrating her last graduation as a school district employee. Franques, the area director of Eastern Hillsborough County schools, will be retiring in December after close to four decades as a school district employee.
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