PASCO COUNTY, Fla. —  A Pasco County woman hits a milestone many of us won't: turning 108 years old.

Clarice Emley was a Pasco County teacher in the 1960s and still has some lessons to teach us all.

After 108 years, she says it's not how long you live, but how you live.

"Live a long time. But don't get old. That's the best advice I can give," Emley said.

Emley now lives at Altria Park at Baypoint Village in Hudson. She keeps busy there, even playing bowling and the organ.

Clarice was born in 1911. She grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and says that's one of her secrets to long life.

"I have mountaineer blood. I'm from North Carolina. We always had good food and people," Emley said.

Her other secret is, well, this is how she put it.

"People tell me it's because I didn't have children," she said while laughing.

"Live a long time. But don't get old. That's the best advice I can give." - Clarice Emley

Emley was a teacher for more than 30 years. She finished her career in Pasco County, teaching at Gulf High.

"I taught it all," Emley said. "Anything they needed me for. Geography, math. English and history."

She was married twice and had four brothers. She has outlived them all, and so her community is now her family. In fact, they planned to celebrate her birthday on Wednesday.

Members of her sorority, Delta Kappa Gama, are also coming to honor her there. 

"I feel like I did in my 70s and 80s. I haven't worn down yet," Emley said.