From the moment the bell rings, it is clear Jane McKee is more than another Great American Teach In speaker to Rosalyn Webb’s English class.

“This is a lady who has done so much for me, I used to call her my miracle worker,” said Webb, introducing McKee. “She saved my job here, she saved my sanity. I have to to thank this wonderful woman.”

McKee and Webb met when they taught English at Robinson in the 1990’s. However, McKee retired from her post in 1999 to become a talent agent.

“Sometimes you make changes in your life for different reasons,” McKee said to the class. “When I retired, it was right after Columbine. My husband was worried. He said to me: ‘You’re so outspoken, one of your students is going to put a bullet in your head.’ At first, I kept teaching, because it was what I had been doing all my life. Then, a student I had suspended keyed my Mustang. I was like ‘okay, maybe you’re right.’ It was time to get out.”

Soon thereafter, she started a talent agency, Jane’s World Entertainment. She had no professional background or training in the business, just a few connections from friends who worked in music.

“I didn’t think I’d end up doing what I’m doing,” McKee said. “But being retired to me, it’s really boring. All there would be to do is to go the gym, ride my bike, read a book… I’d just be so bored.”

Although McKee never envisioned herself as becoming talent agent, she has built Jane’s World Entertainment into one of the primer talent agencies in the Tampa Bay area, and now employs some of her former students as DJ’s and musicians. Her company handles everything from intimate events with only one or two artists to large-scale national concerts with superstar talent.

McKee left the students, who were mostly seniors, with a final piece of advice.

“What you’re learning now, here, in school, matters,” she said. “No matter where you’re going next- college, vocational school, technical school, whatever- everything here prepares you for that next step. For your generation, 65 will no longer be the age when you retire. You’ll have to work longer and harder, but if you know how to relate your skills in the real world, you’ll be fine.”

Click here to find out more about Jane’s World Entertainment.