Chad Beam, a native of McDowell County, dedicated his life to education and community service. His journey from a challenging childhood to becoming an acclaimed educator is a testament to his resilience and passion for helping others.
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Chad Beam found his life calling as an educator, inspiring students and earning numerous accolades throughout his career. Here's a look at his remarkable journey:
A Classroom Divided: Engaging Students Through Innovation
A strip of gray duct tape divides Chad Beam’s classroom in half. On one side is Norway and the other Denmark. Each country’s flag hangs on the wall on its respective side, and the chairs and desks are all facing each other, as if in battle.
Beam taught Hamlet to his Burns High students and assigned half the class to the kingdom of Denmark and the other half to Norway. He said the students were so engrossed in the story, they called each other by their country instead of by name.
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Recognition and Achievements
Beam was nominated as Burn’s High School teacher of the year and was a finalist for the 2019 Cleveland County Teacher of the Year, which he had won twice before. When the North Carolina Lottery held the School Heroes Program several months ago, Beam was nominated and voted for more than a thousand times.
For Beam, teaching wasn’t just a job; it was a passion and a calling. It was something he felt he was born to do, though it was totally unexpected.
Overcoming Adversity
A native of Cleveland County, Beam was born into a poor family in a low-income neighborhood in Lawndale. He was the oldest of three siblings and had dyslexia.
"If you would have told me 20 years ago I’d be madly in love with English and teaching students, we’d have had a fistfight,” Beam said.
Yet, every year, he received achievements and recognition for his work and was nominated as a distinguished educator.
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“That floors me,” he said. “I’m the dyslexic kid. I’m teaching what I couldn’t do. It gives me chills to say that.”
He remembered struggling with the alphabet in elementary school and thinking LMNOP was all one letter.
“I get chills because I’m the LMNOP kid,” he said.
The Calling to Teach
Beam said education chose him before he ever chose it. Several moments stand out in his memory, including meeting a student athlete from Burns High who was one of his first examples of a successful black teen. He said several teachers looked beyond his learning disability and taught him that if he focused and worked hard, he could accomplish anything.
One teacher, in particular, had a lasting impact on his life: April Bolejack. In his junior year of high school, he ended up taking an honors English class with her. He was a reluctant student, and on one of the first days of class when they were assigned to read Animal Farm, he cussed her out. She told him something he never forgot.
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“You will not become an African American statistic on my watch,” she told him.
He said her direct influence led him to where he was today.
“She changed my whole life,” Beam said. “Just by being a passionate English teacher.”
His classroom was a reflection of Bolejack as well. Many of the books on the bookshelves were hers, along with the pictures on the wall. He had a coffee pot available for students at the back of the classroom, just like April had. She would bring cheese biscuits to class and did things Beam said he didn’t know teachers were supposed to do.
“She became my mom,” he said.
From Football Dreams to Education
In high school, his skills on the football team earned him a full scholarship to Lenoir-Rhyne University, and he had dreams of going pro.
“I have a college degree because I’m skinny,” he laughed.
Beam saw education and football as his ticket away from home, and he never intended to return to Cleveland County once he earned his degree in Graphic Design.
“I knew if I went home, I would end up selling drugs,” he said.
It was what he grew up with and what happened in his neighborhood.
“I said I knew I wasn’t ever going to move back to Shelby,” he said. “I wasn’t coming back here and God knows, I’m not going to stand in front of a group of hardheaded kids like I was and teach.”
Once he graduated from Lenoir-Rhyne, his mentor and teacher, Bolejack, called him and reminded him of the gift he had been given and encouraged him to complete his remaining 12 credit hours to become a teacher.
Personal Tragedy and Inspiration
He also had personal reasons that led him to teaching. The day before he was scheduled to leave for college, his brother drowned while out swimming at Moss Lake. Grief-stricken, Beam had no choice but to leave his mourning family and start classes. He couldn’t understand why his brother died and said he would sit at his gravesite cursing God. He wanted to be an example for his brother of what was possible and was one of the reasons Beam worked so hard to get out of poverty.
Eventually, Beam realized that by teaching, he could be that example to hundreds of brothers and sisters. He said every year, when he stands in front of a group of new faces, he tells them he is going to teach them how to swim so they don’t drown. He teaches his little brothers and sisters how to swim by reading Robert Frost and Shakespeare and other classic literature.
And they love it.
A Teacher's Impact
Nearly every day during planning periods, a kid or two would wander into his classroom, pour a cup of coffee, and say “Hey, Mr. B, want to talk about Lord of the Flies?”
“Absolutely,” Beam would respond.
Beam attributed his success as a teacher to his ability to build relationships with students and relate to them. He could understand what it’s like to struggle with a learning disability and the challenges of juggling athletics and academics. He knew about overcoming obstacles.
He had been teaching for 15 years, the majority at Burns High where he taught English to 10th and 11th graders.
“I’m tied to it. I’m bound to it. I’m in love with it,” Beam said.
Beam’s wife, Terri, is a school social worker at Crest High.
Chad Beam's life was a testament to the power of education and the impact one person can have on the lives of many. His legacy will continue to inspire students and educators alike.
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