78 Featured Teacher: Beth Borders, Jasper Junior High School
Words by Jenny Lynn Davis | Images by Ryan McGill
In the early 1990s, young Beth Borders fell in love with the subjects of English and literature while sitting in a classroom at Sipsey Junior High School. Her teacher, Diane Jones, found ways to make the content fun and interesting and it worked like a charm on Beth, who, until that point, didn't particularly care for going to school. For the rest of her grade school education, she woke up excited for the school day, and that excitement was fueled by the opportunity to dive deeper into her love of those two subjects.
Fast forward to Beth's first year of college. Again, she sat in a classroom, taking notes during a lecture that would help her earn a degree in business—but the feeling of excitement wasn't there.
"I don't remember much about the content of that class; I just remember thinking 'Man, I wish I was hearing about Shakespeare or Chaucer right now'," Beth says.
After careful contemplation, Beth changed course from Business to English and Secondary Education—and she hasn't looked back since. Her entire career, save for half a semester in another district, has been spent in the Jasper City School System, with 17 of those 20 years teaching eighth grade English. Her love for the topic and for the overall school environment made her feel like it was the best path. A school feels like home to her, a classroom a haven of escape from the outside world. Besides, sharing her love for English with her students makes her feel joy.
Beth has a collection of notes and art given to her by students over the years, all of which allude to the fact she is a beloved staple in the Jasper City School system. Twenty years into the situation, she couldn't imagine teaching anywhere else. But that wasn't always the case.
"Jasper was never in my plan when I was a student or when I was about to be a teacher. From my outsider’s view, it never seemed like it was a place where I could fit in,” she says. “I was the only person in my immediate family that didn't go to Walker High school, and when I was making my requests for training placements at UAB, I never listed any of the Jasper City Schools. Imagine my shock when I landed at Walker High School, student teaching 10th and 12th grade English. It was never what I envisioned, but it's one of the best things to ever happen to me. It helped me realize my true goal."
Beth's goal as an educator is to always be a role model and support system for her students. Although she is well-versed in the content she teaches and wants her students to appreciate its purpose, she considers her greatest strength to be her ability to form connections with her students, being a source of consistency through the many changes that come with being an eighth grader.
"We call it 'junior high' now, but eighth grade is often considered 'middle school', and they call it middle for a reason,” Beth says. “They're in the middle of so many big transitions in their lives, and they're looking for someone to remind them it will all work out. I want to be that for them so that when they walk out of my classroom at the end of the year, they walk into high school with the belief they can accomplish anything they set their minds to." 78