Name and current position:
Beverly Edwards, 3rd grade
How long have you worked at
GDS?
This year is my 29th
year at GDS. I came in August of 1986
which was the same year Ralph Davison came to be the new headmaster. I taught in the North Carolina public schools
for 11 years before moving to GDS.
What is the
best part about teaching at GDS?
I have
enjoyed teaching children from the same families. Once I “join” a family as the teacher of
their child, I really like knowing that same family over a period of years as I
teach the siblings. After one or two of
the kids have come my way, we become friends.
Secondly, I tell everyone that asks me about teaching at GDS that we are
a great big family. I am invited to
confirmations, weddings, wedding parties, baby showers, recitals, athletic
events, plays, college graduations, and dinners with the families. I have even vacationed with GDS
families. I know my students well into
their adult years. It is marvelous when
a former student stops by my classroom to visit, especially when they bring
their own children to meet me.
What is
something I enjoy teaching year after year?
Third grade is a fabulous year, and I am totally invested in what we
teach. GDS sponsored several trips to the
Native American lands in the desert south west.
I can speak to my students about my own first hand experiences with the
Hopi or Navaho people. Because I
received the Brooks Sabbatical grant and traveled to Kenya and Tanzania, I can
describe in vivid detail the sights and sounds of the African savannah. I can make these ancient cultures come alive
for my students with the objects and pictures I share each year.
What is
something no one knows about you?
I am totally addicted to the Angry Birds games as well as the sweet
world of Candy Crush. Another interesting bit of personal history is that I
slept in a grave yard for an entire night while backpacking in Europe during
the summer of 1975. It’s a great story!
