Vail teacher returns to classroom after beating cancer

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — When Annie Bates decided to make a career change, teaching was not on her radar.

But as a real estate agent of 10 years and a mom of three boys, teaching found her.

"I actually came to this school to interview for a secretarial office position, and I was with Mr. Barger, who's the principal here," says Bates, "and after the interview, I got a phone call from Dennis, the principal, and he said, 'You know, I really think that you actually have some untapped potential to be a teacher'."

After thinking it over, Bates decided she was ready for the challenge.

But after just six days in the classroom, she received a phone call with life-changing news.

“A test that I had gotten done over the week came back positive for cancer. So I only taught six days, and then I made the difficult decision to have to leave because it was a pretty aggressive breast cancer that needed treatment right away," Bates said.

She was able to step away from her position for her treatment.

“I made the difficult call to Mr. Barger. He was fully supportive, and said, 'if you're ready to come back—whenever you're ready to come back—we have open arms',” Bates says.

Her biggest challenge was ahead of her, but the support of her husband and three kids helped push her through.

“I was fully open with them that I was going to fight like hell to be around for them and do everything I could to be part of their lives during the process,” said Bates.

Now almost a year after her initial diagnosis, Bates is cancer-free and ready to put on her teaching hat once again.

But this year, which she sees as a do-over, she will have a familiar face in her classroom: Her son Owen will be joining her class.

“It's going to be a little bit of an adjustment for him. Yeah, yeah. He's like, 'do I call you mom? What do I call you?'" says Bates. "I said, 'I don't know'.”

Bates teaches at Vail Academy and High School, which is a K-12 school in the Vail Unified School District.