Clearbrook-Gonvick April Teacher Feature

Lori Beard,

First Grade Teacher

2016 Minnesota Teacher

of the Year Candidate

Lori Beard is in her 25th year of teaching. She began teaching for Clearbrook-Gonvick School in 1991 teaching in the area of Early Childhood Special Education. In the fall of 2001, she moved to teaching first grade. Her first classroom was in the Gonvick School. Her passion, dedication, and drive were recognized this year with a nomination for Minnesota Teacher of the Year. She was then selected as one of 114 teachers as a candidate for the honor. Congratulations!

Mrs. Beard has been married for 31 years to Randy Beard. Together they have two children. Katelin, their oldest daughter is 25, lives in Grand Forks, and is employed by Polk County and DHS. Their youngest daughter Allison is a Freshman at Bemidji High School.

Mrs. Beard grew up on a farm south of Akeley MN. She attended school and graduated from Akeley High School. My parents are Charles and Jane Andress and are both still living. She has four sisters and one brother. Two of her older sisters are educators as well. Mrs. Beard graduated from Bemidji State University with a degree in Education in 1984. She moved to Minneapolis and attended the University of Minnesota and earned a degree in Special Education. March 20th, 2007 she received her Masters’ of Education from Bemidji State University in Curriculum and Instruction.

Why did you choose to be a teacher? In my teenage years I worked in preschool settings. I found that I enjoyed working with that age group. I enjoyed their willingness to learn, their curiosity and energy, the excitement over little discoveries. Their brains were like sponges. The learning that took place over time was incredible. It is fun to be part of the academic growth students made in a year or even a month at this age level.

What did you do before coming to Clearbrook-Gonvick? Prior to moving to Clearbrook I taught in Minneapolis Public Schools for three years. We moved to Illinois and I taught for three years as a special education teacher in Zion. In the summer of 1991 we moved to Clearbrook and Randy began his dental practice. In the fall of 1991 I took a job with ICCC as a Head Start Teacher/family facilitator. I made home visits to families in Fosston, Oklee, Clearbrook, and Grygla.

What is the best part of your job at Clearbrook-Gonvick? First graders have such a willingness to learn. They want to please the teacher. They love to learn about everything. They enjoy using lots of different kinds of materials that are used for teaching math, science, reading, etc… They like to share what they know with me and others. They come to school each day ready to take on the next challenge. They know it all.

What is the biggest challenge of your job? It has been more difficult to want to be part of the teaching profession the last 15 years because of the negativism that is expressed about the profession often beginning at our local, state, and national levels. Comments from these higher leaders are often fill with criticism and disrespect. Individuals get educated (which cost a lot of money) and find themselves in classrooms because they want to educate students, to help and inspire them to reach their potential and in the end be successful in their communities or wherever they choose. It seems like educators are more often under the attack than any other profession. Why is that?

If you could have any job in the world - what would it be? Why? I think it would be fun to be the voice of animals or animated toy characters in movies. I think they are funny and make people laugh.

What do you do when you are not at school teaching? In the summer, I like to be outside working in the yard. I enjoy lots of outdoor activities like biking, hiking, boating. In the winter I am mostly inside watching basketball games. I attend church at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Bemidji.

What are your favorite aspects of the Clearbrook-Gonvick community? I think that the Clearbrook-Gonvick community is unique in that families and friends support each other in so many ways. Students grow up there and see the importance of community and what it means to be a member of a community and responsibilities that one can have or would like to be a part of.

And a now a word (or two) about Mrs. Beard from her students…

Why do you think Mrs. Beard decided to become a teacher? "Because she could teach and be nice to kids." "To help kids learn." "Help kids." "So she could teach other kids." "Because she knows a lot of words." "Liked kids."

What do you think Mrs. Beard does when she is not teaching here at school? "Taking care of her daughter or going to spend time with her family." "Cleaning her house." "Goes to help somebody else." "Takes care of Allison." "Read books." "She gets stuff done for when we get to school."

What do you think Mrs. Beard was like in the first grade? "Nice" "Being a good kid." "Good" "Quiet." "A good student." "Always read."

What is one great thing about Mrs. Beard? "She lets us do maps when we are done with work." "She’s nice." "She is very nice." "She teaches us." "She makes us write so we get neater handwriting." "She teaches great stuff about math."

If Mrs. Beard did not work here at school, what job do you think she would have? Why? "A dentist because her husband is." "A bank girl because she gives us stuff." "A place where she could help people because she likes us." "Firefighter because she helps us." "Digi-Key person because she really likes my mom." "Work in Target because I saw Mrs.Beard when I went to Target."

If Mrs. Beard were an animal, which animal do you think she would be? WHY did you pick that animal? "Puppy, because puppies are nice." "An owl because sometimes she hoots at us."

"Tiger because they eat meat." "Cheetah,because she walks fast." "A dog because I think she has a dog." "Zebra, because we read about a lot of animals like striped animals."

What is one thing Mrs. Beard ALWAYS says? "Go to your reading chairs." "Go move your clothespin." "Sit down." "This is what we are going to do." "Go up to your reading chairs." " Let’s go do math facts on the carpet."