A longtime kindergarten teacher in Essex County has called it a career. Valerie Taylor retired from Tappahannock Elementary School after 30 years with the district. Taylor, a 1989 Essex High School graduate, said she always dreamed of teaching in her hometown. She began in 1994 and never left the kindergarten classroom. She said watching her former students graduate and later bringing their own kids to her class has been one of the greatest rewards.
