LOWELL, Mich. — Our newest Teacher of the Week may not work in the traditional classroom each day, but she’s serving our students as the librarian for Lowell Area Schools.
You’ll see from the way she backs out of the room that she’s in disbelief the surprise is for her.
Christine Beachler is the Lowell Area Schools library media director and our latest Teacher of the Week. After the surprise, she said, “I’m kind of in shock right. It’s very, very surprising.”
Lowell High School principal, Steve Gough, on the other hand was “not at all surprised. Mrs. Beachler does a phenomenal job with this program and is well-regarded among our students, our community, and our staff.”
The principal also explained, “She runs all of the libraries in the district.”
Her recognition came at the perfect time.
“March is Reading Month,” said Beachler, adding, “Promoting literature, getting kids to love reading and finding the books that they love – it’s just a critical part of education.”
“The library really is a learning space. We know that literacy is the foundation of learning and so the purpose of this program is to just promote literacy, promote reading among our students and hopefully encourage students to explore different viewpoints, different ideas, different topics so that it enriches what they’re doing in the classroom,” said Gough.
Beachler has been inspiring students to read for more than three and a half decades.
“This is my 36th year teaching and I’ve never had anything like this happen. So, it’s very touching,” said Beachler.
Gough said it’s the reason for the program’s success, saying, “That consistency in the program really is the foundation of why our program functions so well.”
“Every time I check out a book, I look at the kid’s face and kind of think, hm, I wonder if I had their parents in class, and often I did. I had their mom or their dad and so it’s a little bit of a deja vu sometimes,” said Beachler.
She also expressed gratitude for the recognition, saying, “I think this is wonderful that you guys do this. I think it’s just a wonderful honor and a great treat for people, and yes, absolutely, everybody needs to know that they’re appreciated.”
“It just really is affirming and uplifting and really helps you to know that it’s important what we do,” she said.
If you have someone you’d like to nominate as our next Teacher of the Week, just text the word “teacher” to 616-559-1310.
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