Inspiring Women Fall 2017

It is hard to know what my most important
achievements have been. But I one example I
can think of makes me feel very humble.
Several years ago, I met my former assistant in
the Head Start class that I had taught. As soon as
she saw me she exclaimed, “Wait right here. I
want to go get Bea.” In all honesty, I had no idea
who she had gone to fetch. A few minutes later,
however, around the corner ran a beautiful, wellput-together,
tall, stylish young woman who
rushed forward and threw her arms around me
saying “Oh, Mrs. Cheal. How nice to see you! I
have thought about you so many times.” Bea
turned out to be Beatrice, a young woman who
had been in my Head Start classroom. Beatrice
had broken almost every rule we had
established for our classroom. On field trips
children were told not to climb the trees. Yes,
Beatrice was the first one up the nearest tree.
Instructions at school to walk in this specific area, always found Beatrice running – not walking. It
seemed that Beatrice found every way to push the envelope as a Head Start child. And now,
here she was, this striking young woman having just graduated from Harvard University and
recently hired by the TV industry. What an inspiration!
GETTING TO KNOW BERYL
Which book that you’ve read recently would
you recommend? Two books that I have
recently read have been very instrumental in
my thinking. Teach like Your Hair Is on Fire –
Rafe Esquith. I liked Esquith‘s enthusiasm for
teaching; his genuine caring and concern
about his students; his ability and eagerness in
listening to his students; his innovative,
practical teaching strategies in helping
children learn.
The second book is Lost at School by Ross W.
Greene, Ph.D., which gives practical and
important information and suggestions for
working with misbehavior at school.
What personal motto do you live by and how
does it affect what you do/don’t do? “Even if
you’re on the right track you will get run over
if you just sit there.” - Will Rogers
“What you are is as important as what you
do.” I try to incorporate both of these
concepts into every part of my life. I strive to
do what needs to be done, but do it with
caring, respect, and humor.
Of all the people you have met in your life,
who do you admire most? My mother. She
had many ideas about living and the
importance of people that were different
than those of her family or, as far as I know,
different from any support group. She was
very strong in her beliefs.
She believed strongly that there were better
ways to solve international problems than
going to war. Until she found a Christian
church that had those same beliefs she had
no support, to my knowledge, for these, what
were then considered to be radical ideas.
She felt, as I do now, that there is God (or
good) in every person. Finding it is sometimes
a challenge, but with perseverance and
searching it can usually be found. I do not
consider myself a religious person, but
supporting that discovery in developing
relationships with children can be extremely
important as a teacher.
I believe my mother was the only one in her
family who had a college education. She
attended UCLA in Los Angeles for two years,
taught school for two or three years, raised a
family of five girls, completed her four-year
bachelor’s degree in education the week
after her youngest daughter graduated from
college, and then went back to teaching for
several years.
She was a strong woman – in so many ways a
great role model…..
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