You are a typical high school student, experimenting in the lab during your chemistry class when suddenly something goes wrong, and there is an explosion. You are extremely confused and frustrated that your experiment went wrong, so you try again. BOOM! There is yet another explosion, and you throw down your pencil in frustration. Mrs. Sarah Beery then walks over to you and starts explaining what you did wrong. You suddenly realize that chemistry is a difficult subject, but with the guidance of Mrs. Beery, anything is possible. 

Beery is a Saint Louis High School teacher, who has been teaching for 18 years. She has taught physical science, geometry, algebra one, algebra two, honors chemistry, chemistry, AP chemistry, forensic science, STEM class, news and science, and she previously coached basketball and softball. She was also a long-term substitute teacher at Holland High School for five weeks, but Saint Louis High School has been her home for 18 years. If Beery wouldn’t have chosen a career at Saint Louis High School, she would’ve gone into research in chemistry because of her love for the subject. 

Additionally, she is a mother of two children, Savannah and Tyson. Her number one goal as a mother is to teach her kids that success is defined differently by everyone and be happy no matter what happens in life. Her main goal in life is to raise Savannah and Tyson to be successful, independent adults. She also feels an important thing in life is to maintain a positive outlook and be happy with who you are, which she hopes to pass on to her kids. 

When Beery was in high school, she had many personal goals for her future. She wanted a family of her own, a successful job, and wanted to be self-sufficient. Beery looked forward to being an adult because she was finally able to escape the small environment she was in and explore the many opportunities in the world that she wasn’t exposed to before. While in college, Beery maintained a full time job, bought her first car with her own money, and participated in five research projects. After college, she chose to go into the education field because she didn’t like the limited human contact. 

When she first arrived at SLHS as a brand new teacher, she was very nervous, but the people she was surrounded by were very welcoming. She believes SLHS accepts everyone and doesn’t portray a poor image of mistreating others. Along her teaching path, Beery has made many mistakes while teaching, and through these, she has managed to improve her methods and find new ways to educate her students.  She believes that if you make a mistake, there is always a new day to improve, and you shouldn’t let small errors discourage you. 

Beery has made a huge impact on many students throughout her teaching career. Gracelyn Bebow, a senior at SLHS, stated, “Mrs. Beery has been one of my favorite teachers for a while. She might seem a little intimidating at first, but she is extremely nice and has a sense of humor. She helped me whenever I needed help in chemistry. I am also in her advisory, and when Thursday comes around, I’m always excited to see her since I don’t have her as a teacher anymore.”

Ethan Wilson, a current student, stated, “To have Mrs. Beery as a teacher is a blessing. I always love it when she is making jokes and when I’m able to tell my chemistry jokes as well. It feels good to have a teacher like her in our school.” 

Chloe’ Baxter stated, “Mrs. Beery is definitely one of the most interesting teachers I’ve ever had, and she makes her class very entertaining. She always manages to keep me on my toes.”