Beckering Retires After 35 Years
By Jill Fennema –
After 35 years of teaching, Linda Beckering retired from Edgerton Christian School at the close of this school year. Linda had been with ECES for the past 11 years and worked for Leota Christian School for 24 years prior to that.
Linda, who is the oldest daughter of Lance and Trena Van Dyke, grew up near Leota. She attended grade school at Leota Christian School and high school at Southwest Christian.
“People who know me well, know I’m not a very decisive person,” Linda said. “But knowing that I wanted to be a teacher was never something I had any doubts about.”
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern College in 1972. Her husband, Jerry, also graduated with a teaching degree. To avoid being drafted into the service during the Viet nam War, many students chose college, which meant there were more teachers than jobs. Finding a place where they both could teach was difficult. They moved to Fort Collins, Colo., for a year. Linda sold shoes at Brown’s Shoe Fit and Jerry worked in construction.
In 1973, a teaching job came open at Leota Christian and Jerry’s father, Ray, was ready to turn the gravel business over to him. The couple moved back to Leota and Linda taught 5th and 6th grades in a multi-grade classroom. Three years later, she took a break to stay home and raise their three children. She returned to the classroom in 1988, when their youngest son, Darin, was ready for school.
She taught lower elementary grades, moving between grades kindergarten and first and second grades. Linda remembers that Darin thought he might have a privileged position having Mom as his teacher and would often point to a problem and say “that one” expecting an answer. “He found out it wasn’t an advantage at all,” she laughs.
When Leota Christian closed in 2009, Linda joined the staff at Edgerton Christian School, where she has taught first grade ever since.
Over the years, there have been many changes in educational platforms and methods of teaching, but the use of technology has been the biggest stretch for her. She enjoys joking with her colleagues about how she may not be able to perfectly navigate today’s technology, but she would like to see them try to thread a film projector with 20 up-and-down loops and not have a flickering movie when they were done!
Linda also remembers the ditto machine – which was the precursor to today’s copy machines. These machines – which many older teachers and students aged 40 and older will remember – used ammonia or another solvent chemical to transfer ink from a master copy onto other pieces of paper. Linda remembers that if a teacher cranked it one too many times, the worksheet would come out wet and runny.
“Although methods and ideas about how to educate have changed, the role of the teacher is still probably the biggest influence on the student,” Linda said. “A child needs to feel loved, accepted, and valued by their teacher.” She feels blessed to have been able to do this in a Christian school, helping students see things through the lens of the Bible.
Retirement will be an adjustment, and Linda knows she will miss the people she works with and her students. Linda hopes to still return to the classroom as a substitute teacher. She will be glad to do that next year without the problems that COVID-19 has caused for teachers, students, and families.
Pictured are Linda and her husband Jerry with the bouquet of roses that Linda received.
Jerry and Linda’s daughter Alissa and husband Tim live in Jenison, Mich., where Alissa is a registered nurse, and Tim is an engineer. They have four children, including a set of twins. Their son Dan and his wife Laura live in Chaska, where Dan is head of school at Southwest Christian High School. Laura is a junior kindergarten teacher. They also have four children, including a set of twins. Their youngest son Darin and wife Tricia live in Eden Prairie. Darin is a financial advisor and Tricia a homemaker. They also have four children.
“They have blessed us with twelve grandchildren, which should provide plenty of events and activities to keep us busy,” Linda said.
“Teaching has been a wonderful career. I’ve always felt it was a good choice allowing me to be home with my children over the summer and with them throughout the school year as well. I have been blessed with memories of a rewarding profession.”
