Her Story
About Beth
Throughout my 34-year career in education, I taught school for 30 years and worked as an instructional assistant for 4 more years. As an elementary school teacher, I was the person they trusted to move to different grade levels when they needed a grade level change and someone to do the job. The school system saw my various talents, so I got hired to be an instructional assistant for special needs children in the middle school who were really academically more like first, second, or third grade level. I got to do reading and math, and then take social studies and science skills that were way too complicated and simplify them to what they could understand. Another school recognized that I had worked with urban kids in closing the gap in their reading skills, so they hired me as their Title I instructional assistant to help with the kids that were behind in reading, and that helped close all those children's gaps for them as a school. My first job was teaching adaptive PE for 4 years with severe, moderate, and mild kids, which was a huge stepping stone for all the other things I did. Now that I'm retired, I volunteer at a school twice a week where they give me 3 or 4 kids that are behind in some sort of skill set, and I work with them on that skill set and let the teachers know how they've improved.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Beth
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think I have a gift being with kids. Every summer, I'm like, well, what else would I do? I would miss being with kids, I miss working with them on skill sets. And I really do see I had a gift, and I love the learning about how to help them succeed in all their academic areas. And then, as our school changed and we became more urbanized, I learned that the day-to-day kindness you give those kids is something you've got to do to build trust with them. And it's taught me that I'm not sure we in our day-to-day lives give as much kindness as we could give. Now that I'm retired, I try to find ways to be kind.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
The advice, number one, would be not to listen to the news, because teaching, really, there are a lot of challenges, but if you get in a school where you're supported, it's doable. If you love being with kids every day, and you love seeing the growth in their academics, and having a good support team that you're teaching with, then I would say not listen to the news.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
For the state of Indiana, I keep hearing about the pay and that people are working 2 and 3 jobs. I really don't know, because I luckily got my 30 years in and get a state retirement check. But sometimes I think people just expect so much. If the salaries aren't similar to a level that is worthwhile, then they are gonna lose people, because the cost of living is so much more than it ever has been.
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