The packing was an especially nostalgic chore for Whinnery because she is retiring after a 36-year career at Castlemont. And she is going out in style, after being named 2004 Teacher of the Year by the Campbell Union School District.

"It's a nice way to end my career," says Whinnery, who didn't know she had even been nominated for the award.

On Sept. 20, Whinnery will represent the district at the Santa Clara County Office of Education's annual Teacher Recognition Day event to be held at the San José Repertory Theatre.

Castlemont Principal Phil Short applauds the district's decision. He has known Whinnery since he began teaching 35 years ago.

"When I was a new teacher in the district, I observed her work with kids and saw a master at work," Short says. "She is such an inspiration to everyone. It is so important for kids to have a teacher who is organized, calm and generous."

Whinnery's lifetime career choice goes back to when her father was a superintendent of schools in Southern California, where she grew up.

"My father, being in education, thought I would probably enjoy that, too, and I have," Whinnery says. "When I started teaching, the things available for women were basically being a teacher, secretary or nurse. There was nothing that was open to us like it is today."

Since Whinnery likes to be animated when she teaches, her choice to teach only kindergarten through fourth-grade classes over the years turned out to be a perfect fit.

"I like the creativeness," she says. "You can be your own person. You have your own class, and you have a curriculum, but you can do what you want with that curriculum.

Her passion for her profession is evident; she took no sabbaticals during her teaching career.

"This has been a way of life for me since I was 5 years old," she says. "I've been going to school since kindergarten, being off in the summer, then going back. Friends of mine say the retirement is a gift. I have to get used to the newness of it. I'm so used to being home and correcting papers."

This past year Whinnery taught fourth grade, as she has for many of her 37 years. History was her college major, and Whinnery especially enjoyed teaching early California history, which is part of the fourth-grade curriculum. It was also a throwback to her childhood, when she traveled throughout the West with her family each summer.

"I became fascinated with the era of the opening of the West, with the cowboys and Indians," Whinnery says. "I want to pursue traveling and my love of the West."

Whinnery's love of history and the West appears to be hereditary. Her father was a history buff, and Whinnery has relatives on her father's side who choose to live in Lincoln, N.M., which is Billy the Kid country. She describes the town as still very much like it was during the range wars of the 1870s, with its old courthouse and lots of tumbleweed. Even today, it has just a few stores.

In early September, Whinnery will be in Montana for her first special post-retirement trip. She wants to follow part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Trail since this year is the bicentennial of their journey.

Whinnery decided to retire only a few months ago and wants to be able to spend lots of her free time entertaining her friends when she isn't traveling.

"There are a lot of little avenues out there to pursue, and I'm ready to pursue some things," Whinnery says.