By Sallie Bachar
Catholic Herald correspondent
Science and religion mix in teacher's class
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MEDFORD -- Was it merely coincidental or could it have been providential that Laura Beyer from Medford had the opportunity last year to tour the home of Elizabeth Ann Seton in Baltimore and the first school established by the saint. Beyer, who was attending the National Catholic Educational Association convention in Baltimore at the time, was presented with the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Award at the diocesan fall conference in Rice Lake in October. She teaches sixth grade at Holy Rosary School in Medford.
Originally from Waukesha, Wis., Beyer attended the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, Wis., and graduated with a degree in elementary education and a minor in learning disabilities and reading. Now in her 20th year of teaching, Medford's school is her first and only place of employment.
Beyer has an interest in science and took several environmental classes after graduation. "I really like science," she said, "and enjoy the hands-on part of it." With the building of the new school, Holy Rosary now has its own science room, which resulted from all the teachers pooling together their science materials. Beyer was excited to see how much they had and realized how easy it would be to teach the subject when it is all in one specialized area. "You can do experiments and hands-on projects so much easier because of the space," she said. It was only natural for her to share her enthusiasm and knowledge of the subject with the fourth and fifth grade students also. While she teaches them, the other teachers fill in for her with the sixth grade.
Beyer has a special gift of being able to incorporate religion and her faith into the entire curriculum. "My faith plays a big, big part in my vocation--every day, with everything, every subject has faith joined into it," she said. "I cannot imagine not being able to include my faith in all my subjects as I teach them."
She encourages the students to appreciate the wonder of God's creation as much as the scientific facts and data about that creation.
"I love it when the kids tell me about a spider or an ant they found," she said, "or when they get excited about the veins in a leaf because they are looking at God's world up close and don't take it for granted. That is what I want them to see--how awesome it is. It would be so much more difficult to teach kids if I could not include that in the curriculum."
This year all the students at Holy Rosary are beginning a special project in religion from an idea that Beyer picked up at the NCEA convention. All of them have a three-ring binder that is their own "religion portfolio." Each grade includes items from the current year's curriculum. Her class of sixth graders has added Old Testament stories to their binders, an outline of the books of the Bible, prayers they have written, and favorite Scripture verses and what they mean to them. They also take notes from Fr. Gerard Willger's weekly religion class and include those as well in their binders.
"The kids are really into this right now," said Beyer.
When they graduate from parochial school, the goal is that the binders will be a tangible record of each student's growth and learning of his or her Catholic faith.
Besides teaching, Beyer has served on many church and parish committees through the years. She is presently a member of the long-range planning committee and the technology committee, which keeps the church and school abreast of changes and advances in that area.
She and her husband, Stacey, have one daughter who is a ninth grader, and they also provide what she calls "an adult foster home" for a 37-year-old man who is cognitively disabled. He has lived with them since 1996, and although he requires constant supervision, Beyer casually added, "He is just another member of our family. We go on vacations together, to the movies, etc."
Teaching has been Beyer's life-long dream, and her love and enthusiasm for her vocation is evident. "I never wanted to be anything else. I played 'school' every day, all summer long."
© Superior Catholic Herald, 2007