Meet Mrs. Beard
Alma Mater: Lubbock Christian University
Degree(s): Bachelor’s in Visual Communication
Years of Experience: 10
This is Mrs. Beard’s very first year to teach at The Summit! She is originally from Texas and studied art/art education at Lubbock Christian University in Lubbock, Texas. Her love for teaching Early Learners started in her hometown of Tyler, Texas where she taught at a bilingual preschool called Niños de Promesa and more recently she taught at Preschool Academy here is Springfield, Missouri. In-between teaching at those schools, she was able to teach all grade levels, at many different schools and several locations including Texas, Alabama, and overseas in Africa accruing a decade worth of teaching experience! Her family moved to Missouri from San Antonio, Texas in 2022 and she cannot wait to get this school year started! Something she aims for as a teacher is to find ways to walk alongside the learning path with each individual student.
When she is not teaching, she enjoy spending as much quality time as she can with her family. Her husband coaches men’s soccer at a local university here in town, so she is also involved with attending as many of their matches as possible. She also loves being active, exploring the outdoors and engaging in the many different community events around town. Arts, crafts and design are also at the heart of her many interests!
Meet Mrs. West
The assistant teacher is Halina West. She grew up in the North of England, attending Didsbury Teacher Training College. She obtained a Bachelor of Education degree in 1974 and taught first grade in England and The Bahamas before relocating to Springfield in 1988. In 1994, she opened and ran a state licensed preschool until she retired in 2012. Halina enjoys traveling to England and Europe and spending time with her sisters, and her four great nieces. She is married and has two daughters, a step son, a step daughter, a 2 year old grandson, and two step-grandchildren who live in Louisiana. During her spare time, Mrs. West loves to garden, work on crossword puzzles, and has started learning to play pickleball.
We are eager to do a lot of learning, laughing, exploring, creating and growing together with each other this school year!
