Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
Pocahontas County Schools Superintendent Terrence Beam shared a post May 25 on the district’s Facebook page, saying he was resigning his position, effective June 30, 2023.
Beam’s career in Pocahontas County began in 2009 when he was approached to fill in for two weeks as principal at Hillsboro Elementary School. The then retired Beam accepted the job and the rest, as they say, is history. Those two weeks turned into 14 years of service to the county’s school system.
From principal at HES, Beam moved to the board office first as director of federal projects and then, in 2015, as superintendent.
“A lot of times people ask me what was the best job I ever had and I’ve always said my best job was when I was principal at Panther Creek Elementary School in Nicholas County, but I’m not sure now,” he said. “I think this was the best job I’ve ever had.”
That job came with lots of trials, tribulations and achievements. The good – improvements to the five school buildings and moving the board office out of the floodplain; the bad – RIFs (Reduction in Force) and expulsions of students; and the ugly – the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through it all, Beam said the school system stayed strong and the staff excelled against all odds to help students learn, no matter the obstacle.
“We dealt with strikes,” he said. “We dealt with COVID. We dealt with running levies and getting criticized, but if you look at the whole eight years, there have been a lot of things that have been good and have improved in our school system.”
Beam is the first to say that it wasn’t all because of him. The changes could not have been possible without the staff at the central office and at the schools. Along with Beam, the central office is also losing two directors – Ron Hall and Ruth Bland – who are both retiring.
“It’s always dangerous to pick out particular people and thank them and brag on them, but I’m telling you, people have no idea the contributions that Mrs. Bland and Mr. Hall have given to this county,” Beam said. “When Ron came, our buildings were falling apart. We couldn’t get anything fixed. We couldn’t get any money to get anything fixed, but he and I and [treasurer Sherry Radcliff] worked with the SBA [School Building Authority] to get MIP [Major Improvement Project] awards, and we have put millions of dollars into our schools.”
While much has been accomplished while Beam has been superintendent, he admits there are a few things that didn’t come to fruition.
“I would say that failing to get a levy passed,” he said. “I know that’s a controversial issue and a lot of people are glad it didn’t pass and that’s fine. That’s their opinion. It’s not about not having enough money to run our school system, but it is about not having enough money to provide services to our schools that I wish we could like PRO officers. If we had a levy passed, we could provide PRO officers to our high school and middle schools and be able to fund it continuously. That’s one thing that I regret.
“I wish we could build a brand new school,” he added, “but we have been able to repair the ones we have and that’s really what the people wanted. That’s my job, is to do what the people and the board want me to do.”
As far as his biggest accomplishment, Beam said he thinks he has helped the community trust the school system more and has personally earned the trust of many skeptics.
“I feel like the majority of the community has been supportive of me,” he said. “You always have a few that you can’t please no matter what you do and that’s okay. That’s part of the job. It’s been interesting. I’ve had some real contentious relationships with people that we’ve now come around to where we’re friends.
“The board members I worked for, my goodness,” he continued. “They have supported me so well and going along with some of my crazy ideas. I couldn’t have done the job the way I’ve done it without their support. I just thank everybody. I appreciate the citizens of Pocahontas and how they’ve treated me.”
Beam was also able to make a special bond with the students, first as a principal and then as a superintendent.
“I’ve had kids call me and say, ‘Mr. Beam, can I ask you a question?’” he said. “You don’t hear that too often. I’ve had kids at the high school ‘friend’ me on Facebook. Of course, I’ve not accepted those friends. I will after I leave here, but it wasn’t the proper thing for me to do when I was working here.”
Beam’s favorite part of his job was visiting the classrooms – he spent time in every single classroom each year – seeing the students learn, work together and be silly.
“The kids – I love the kids. About five percent of them are knuckle heads, just like five percent of the adults are, too,” he said, laughing. “The kids are so respectful. I go in their classrooms and they’re always nice to me and they’d say, ‘come over here and be in our little group.’ That’s cool. For an old man like me, for kids to accept me and say we know you. It’s the little things that make the difference.
“I’m in the schools all the time and the kids know me by name,” he continued. “It’s not that I need face recognition. It’s just that they need to know their superintendent cares about their education and can come to their class and spend twenty minutes. That’s been the most enjoyable part of my job – watching them learn or cutting up or whatever they’re doing – just seeing them grow.”
That commitment stays fresh in the students’ minds and when Beam is on stage at graduation, those students will remind him of special moments from the past that have stuck with them.
At last year’s graduation, Summer Hall, who had Beam as a principal when she was in kindergarten, remembered a special bond they had.
“When I saw her on graduation day, I said, ‘do you remember a special thing we have in common?’ and she said, ‘we have the same birthday,’” Beam said. “Just those little connections with kids is why I do this job.”
Even when Beam had to discipline the students, he said they always approached the situation with respect.
“They never fail to amaze you,” he said of the students. “They disappoint you sometimes. I’ve had a lot of them that have had to come in and I’ve had to expel, but none of them have been disrespectful. They’ve understood and they’ve apologized for acting the way they’ve acted.
“I don’t agree with everything that they do,” he continued. “When they do some dumb stuff, I tell them that’s what it is, but you don’t throw them out. You try to repair them, and I’ve had to expel some students that I could have kept out for an entire year, but they were salvageable, and they had learned their lesson. They weren’t a danger to anybody, they just made dumb decisions.
“If you leave them out of school, who knows what’s going to happen then. They may never come back to school.”
The decision to leave Pocahontas County was a tough one for Beam, but he said that when an opportunity is dropped in your lap, you have to take it.
“I’m not retiring,” he said. “I’m resigning. I have a new challenge ahead.”
The Pocahontas County Board of Education also has a new challenge ahead. On Tuesday, the board will accept Beam’s resignation and then it will decide whether it will appoint a new superintendent or post the position for applications.
Whatever the board decides, Beam said he hopes they find someone with the same goals that he had during his eight years as superintendent.
“I hope that they find somebody who cares about kids as much as I do and is willing to stand up for what is right – maybe not what is politically correct – but what is right and maintains a connection with our kids,” he said. “Kids need adults in their life that, hopefully, are good examples.
“I’m hoping the next superintendent that they find is somebody who lives here, knows about the area or has the same values as the people of Pocahontas County. It’s a conservative county. I’m a conservative person. I don’t get into the politics of it, but my beliefs are very close to those of most of the people in Pocahontas County. I think that’s what has made it a smooth ride so far, too.”
Although his new job will take him out of Pocahontas County, Beam says he won’t be a stranger.
“It’s a new chapter,” he said. “I’m going to come back. I’m going to stop and see people. There’s no way that I could not. We made real genuine connections. We’ve been through a lot in this county with all the different issues. We did what the people wanted, and I think that’s what I and the board members are charged to do.
“We represent the community,” he continued. “We have our own ideas about certain things, but overall, you’ve got to look after your community. If you don’t, then you’re not doing your job.”