Beth Steffen

I was absolutely crushed to hear of Beth's tragic death. I had the good fortune of hiring Beth as a young teacher, when I was Principal of Beloit Memorial High School (1986-1997). She was just beginning her career as an English teacher. From her very first day, I knew we hired someone very special. She was such a magnificent person and teacher who knew how to really relate with kids. They knew she believed in them no matter how much trouble they may have gotten into. I loved her dearly for the way she would go out of her way to help some of the most needy kids we had at Beloit Memorial. Heaven just received one of the finest human beings ever to walk on the face of this earth. God Bless her family in this most difficult time. With Deepest Sympathy! Dr. James Fitzpatrick, Fort Atkinson WI.

At the intersection of life and death, do we merely move towards the light of heaven and leave the tools of life’s lessons behind? Ms. Steffan’s helped me to believe in myself through very troubling times during my senior. When a student should be having the time of her life with being top 10% of her class and a bright future, tragedy struck. Tragic events happen all throughout our lives young through old. It’s really just how well we learn to take the tragedy with grace and mercy, and forged through to becoming a better version of ourselves. There is always a calm in the midst of a storm. A calm knowing the pen and paper has just been handed down to many us as her protégés. Never let a love for truth, love for others, vulnerability, humor, tragedy, life lessons die in any us as she believed we would pave the way to believe in not ourselves but others around us. Through our words, we could impact the world. My final paper women’s writers senior year was titled The intersection of life and death… may you light live on forever in all of us who had the great honor to knowing you!! May you be at peace

I, too, knew Beth at BMHS, where I was her student from 1996-1999 and where I worked under her guidance as an editor for the school paper. Beth had a huge influence on my development as a writer, thinker, and citizen of the world. I will never forget the incredible engagement she cultivated in me and my classmates through our required journal exchanges, nor the passion and sense of humor she brought to her classroom and thus to my life. Her time and interest in me are some of the greatest gifts I have received and I know I am not alone in this. My thoughts and condolences go out to Beth’s loved ones and the many students, educators, and families she reached.

Beth was an incredible teacher and mentor who made the lives of countless students better. As a student of hers in the late 90s at Beloit Memorial High School, I will never forget the journaling we did as a class that brought students out of their shells and created community and empathy across classmates with diverse viewpoints and experiences. We kept in touch off and on over the years with occasional long email exchanges about life and learning and politics and reading. In one of those emails in 2008, Beth shared with me a piece that she wrote about the implications of Jane Addams’ writings and speeches for modern literacy teachers (she loved Jane Addams), and it includes a reference to the cherished journaling activity. Here is an excerpt from her piece: “There really isn’t a how-to manual, a recipe, a formula for forging respect and security between students and between a teacher and her students. Human beings sharing a space develop mutual respect and understanding incrementally, and in a classroom, that reciprocity unfolds over time. Many students are self- conscious: about their experiences, about their voices, about their clothes, about their bodies. In a circle, students can’t hide. Everyone can be seen, and when one speaks, all are watching. We read aloud, and everyone takes a turn. No one may pass. While reading a paragraph is requested, reading a sentence is fine. If someone doesn’t know a word, we talk about the word and don’t snicker at a mispronunciation. Students hear their voices out loud. Students gain courage. We get into groups with different configurations often. I ask each student to name the others in his or her group. Students roll their eyes at my obtuseness, but student names are known. Anonymity dissolves. Journal entries can be on any topic, though possibilities relevant to a day’s issues are suggested. Journals are returned promptly, and my comments are in pencil—non-judgmental and informal—ranging from “yikes” to “oh oh spaghetti-o” to lengthier interactions with writers’ concerns. Soon students write about overbearing bosses, athletic frustrations, parental skirmishes, love-life stumbling blocks, adolescent pranks, destructive and disturbing scenarios, and trust emerges. An always-open invitation to share orally from journals begins to be accepted. When papers are due, anyone can read aloud for extra credit. I tell students that their pieces contain so much insight and rich experience that for me to be the only reader would be a travesty; because students are shy, extra credit is the incentive to share, but really, I want everyone to benefit from each other’s written voices. Students hear bits and pieces of their classmates' lives, and communal ownership of the classroom space develops. I create and share a piece too, not for extra credit, but from the sheer joy of writing. The feedback they receive from a writer, passionate about words, matters to them in ways that critique from a teacher with a red pen seldom could.” May we all keep in our hearts the kindness and the empathy that Beth fostered for so many.

I have had the honor of knowing Beth Steffen in recent years. Her son and my son were very good friends at LaFollette High School, and competed in Volleyball and Tennis there, in addition to Club VB tournaments. While I always admired her professional work life as a teacher, and then elevated to Assistant Principal at LHS...we were Mom friends. We watched our sons compete in sports, often times sitting together, with other families. Some of our best talks together were at Waukesha Center Court...waiting for that next Volleyball match to start so we could watch our boys compete. We talked about life, family, the boys, work...and even sprinkled in some talk on how Badger basketball was doing that year. When you interacted with Beth, it made your day so much brighter. She had that unique way about her. Those of you who knew Beth personally, you know what I mean. Beth was so thoughtful, caring, insightful...always asking how I was doing, how my son was doing. It was never about her...always about others. One of the most giving, unselfish, intelligent persons I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. A beautiful soul taken far too early. Thoughts and prayers to all the Steffens. I am hurting with you. You will be missed Beth. Rest in peace my friend. Julie Disch