Vaughn Elementary School
Photo by Lady and Gent Photography
By Rachel Kelly
A fourth-grade teacher at Vaughn Elementary School, Beth Stitt started teaching in 1999 but took 12 years off to focus on her children and family. She began teaching again at Vaughn Elementary in 2017 and has loved being a part of the school system here in the Key Peninsula.
Beth has always loved working with kids. “I think I realized my love for teaching very early while teaching classes at church, working at summer camps, and even babysitting. I loved being with kids and knowing that I could help them learn. Honestly, I tried to find something else that fulfilled me as much as teaching (teachers did not make very good money back then!), but I could not find a career that brought me as much joy as being with kids,” Beth shares.
It is through teaching that she has the opportunity to impact the greater community by encouraging her students to discover their potential. Even if the students don’t realize it themselves, they have so many talents and opportunities available to them. Beth sees her job as an opportunity to instill her students with confidence and a knowledge that they can achieve what they put their minds to. She spends so much time throughout the year thinking of her students, figuring out strategies, and just in general loving her students, that it’s always hard to see them go at the end of the year.
“I tell my students that I will always be their teacher and cheering for them, but really it is just that I have a hard time letting them go. I love being in a community like the Key Peninsula though, because I can usually keep track of kids and watch them grow up,” Beth says.
When not teaching, Beth loves to be with her husband and her kids ages 11, 13, 16 and 18. Most of her free time revolves around them and their involvement in water polo and swimming. She also loves to boat, camp and read. Her husband is also a teacher, so they connect over the profession and how best they can apply technology in the classroom.
Beth is not just a teacher by profession, she’s a teacher at heart who really cares for her students. We are lucky to have her in our community!
Thank you Beth, for always being our teacher.