March 10, 2025
Shawnee State University School of Education professor Sandra Beam grew up planning to do anything but becoming a teacher as her future career. Beam’s mother was a teacher, and she watched her mom work every waking hour on things for her students. So, in her mind she wasn’t going to be a teacher. However, during her senior year of high school Beam was required to shadow a professional and as the deadline approached, she had no plan. Beam panicked when asked, leading her to say she was shadowing a friend’s mother, a second-grade teacher.
“We were supposed to do a job shadowing day, and I was being your typical teenager and wasn’t planning in advance,” Beam said. “My teacher said I have to know where you’re going tomorrow, and I just said my friend’s mom’s name.”
The following day, Beam sat in on a second-grade class and instantly fell in love.
“I’d always liked kids, so that part of it wasn’t surprising, but the whole environment, the classroom and everything was surprising,” Beam explained. “I knew at the time this is what I’m going to do.”
Beam became an elementary school teacher for several years, before a position on the collegiate level became available.
“I had spent several years as a first-grade teacher and then during that time I was offered an adjunct position at a university,” Beam said. “It very much felt like one of those times where if I don’t say yes now, I might not have the opportunity again.”
After accepting the position, she was able to work toward her doctoral degree from, while running the university’s Teacher School of Education program. Beam worked at the university for a couple of years before taking a sabbatical in 2019 moving to eastern Europe.
“We somehow got connected with the American-affiliated school in the country Kosovo,” Beam said. “My husband is also a schoolteacher. I was a first-grade teacher and he was a third-grade teacher. We took our kids with us and it was supposed to be a whole year. But in the spring of 2020 that all came crashing down with COVID.”
When the Beam family came home from Kosovo, a Reading faculty position became available at SSU. Beam explained the oddness of accepting a new job at that point in history.
“I did all my interviewing and onboarding virtually,” Beam stated. “I worked at Shawnee for two years before I met another person on campus outside of the School of Education.”
While at SSU, she works as the Primary & Reading Education Professor, teaching the key reading core.
“If you want to be a teacher in Ohio, it doesn’t matter what you want to teach, you have to take reading classes,” Beam explained. “I have a unique position because I get to interact with every single student that comes through the program.”
Beam loves working with future educators because of the impact each of the students can make with their own students.
“Teachers teach all the other degree areas, so it’s super impactful,” Beam stated. “If my students can teach someone how to read it will be life changing for them. Whether they are high school students or kindergarten students, we provide emotional and mental health support. We are a consistent force in their lives, and it exceeds far beyond academics.”
SSU’s School of Education offers several undergraduate and graduate level programs, preparing students to work in the classroom. Working hands-on in classroom environments, students have the opportunity to build confidence in interacting with school children to prepare them for their future career.
To learn more about Shawnee State University’s School of Education, visit shawnee.edu/education.