George Arnold Beyer
1998 Inductee

Bigfork, Montana
Retired
Total years as classroom teacher: 38

In 1978, George Beyer introduced one of the first psychology classes for high school students in the U.S.  He jumps, moves, crawls, lies on the floor, barks, raps, sings, screams, runs around the room -- whatever the lesson calls for, whatever will help his students learn.  Sensing his concern, students confide both the tragedies and the successes of their lives. He has taken students to their first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, abused students to welfare and given financial help in a crisis.  When special education enrollments tripled at the school with no increase in staffing, Beyer encouraged students to become volunteer aides by giving extra credit. The students continued their relationships with the special education students because of the satisfaction they received from the experience.

"He gave us the grace of his moral instruction; through his own behavior toward us, he taught us to respect ourselves and our classmates; through his curiosity about human psychology, he showed us that difference between individuals are a source of infinite awe."  -- Melanie Rae Thon, a former student, now an Associate Professor of English at Ohio State University

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