MADISON, Ala. — We’re excited to introduce this next Top Teacher! Sure, she goes the extra mile for her students inside and outside the classroom. However, she was once a student who struggled, and now she’s in a position to help struggling students.
Meet Susan Beaty, from St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Madison!
It’s year three of teaching for Susan Beaty, and year two at St. John the Baptist Catholic School teaching fourth graders. “I've already done third grade.So that kind of already helped me see what they knew when they were coming into fourth. So that way I could grow on that and make it even better and stronger. So they'll be ready for fifth grade and then, of course, off to middle school.”
Beaty believes her purpose is education because of her personal testimony. “From a very small, young age, I really struggled academically. And so I learned of the importance of really working hard. And I had a bunch of friends that helped tutor me,” she said.
Beaty says she gets a bit creative in the classroom to better connect with her students. “I try to make sure I learn each child based off of their needs. So by connecting through them on their interests is where I usually start off from. Maybe it might be sports or might be theater and that kind of thing.”
However, even then, there's sometimes a roadblock after the first try. "Yes, especially in whole groups I find a little roadblock. So usually what I do is I'll have a whole group session and we break out into small groups, and that's where we apply different strategies."
Beaty’s Principal, Sherry Lewis, believes Beaty bridges the gap both inside and outside the classroom. “We speak a lot about homeschool partnership here at St John's because we feel like it takes both home and school working together to raise our children today.”
“Ms. Beaty does that every single day. She puts in long hours. She goes the extra mile for her children, her students,” said Lewis.
Beaty with this message for students and both teachers.
"It doesn't matter how you are academically, if you are the slowest one in the school, don't worry about that. That was me, and look at where I am today."