'Of Teaching, Living and Learning' | A Testimonial On Kim Bearden

Source: Facebook

Kim Bearden recently had the honor of delivering the keynote for a Teacher Appreciation Dinner hosted by Valdosta North Rotary Club. This event allowed members of the community the opportunity "to celebrate, honor, and support our public school educators in the Lowndes County and Valdosta City School Systems." Soon after the event, attendee Jim Zachary wrote a piece about the impact of Kim's presence at the celebration and it was published in The Valdosta Daily Times. The words below are just a glimpse into her natural ability to connect with an audience on the visceral level:

"Kim Bearden’s energy is infectious. 

As a teacher, she insists she is not perfect. 

In fact she told a large room of educators at the Valdosta North Rotary Teacher of the Year celebration that there are no perfect teachers. 

Bearden comes close. 

Somehow the Disney American Teacher of the Year and bestselling author has found a way to blend enthusiasm, vibrancy, humor and positive reinforcement with discipline and academic rigor. 

Not many educators would trade an enviable teaching position at a school system with a lot of resources in an affluent community for an inner city school, startup institution, with an uncertain future. 

But Bearden did.

And she has no regrets. 

Nor should she.

Kim Bearden’s energy is infectious. 

As a teacher, she insists she is not perfect. 

In fact she told a large room of educators at the Valdosta North Rotary Teacher of the Year celebration that there are no perfect teachers. 

Bearden comes close. 

Somehow the Disney American Teacher of the Year and bestselling author has found a way to blend enthusiasm, vibrancy, humor and positive reinforcement with discipline and academic rigor. 

Not many educators would trade an enviable teaching position at a school system with a lot of resources in an affluent community for an inner city school, startup institution, with an uncertain future. 

But Bearden did.

And she has no regrets. 

Nor should she.

Kim Bearden’s energy is infectious. 

As a teacher, she insists she is not perfect. 

In fact she told a large room of educators at the Valdosta North Rotary Teacher of the Year celebration that there are no perfect teachers. 

Bearden comes close. 

Somehow the Disney American Teacher of the Year and bestselling author has found a way to blend enthusiasm, vibrancy, humor and positive reinforcement with discipline and academic rigor. 

Not many educators would trade an enviable teaching position at a school system with a lot of resources in an affluent community for an inner city school, startup institution, with an uncertain future. 

But Bearden did.

And she has no regrets. 

Nor should she.

Her most poignant words came when she said, “You don’t have to be perfect,” acknowledging that life is wrought with challenges and merely recognizing our own imperfections can refine us. 

Bearden is crazy. 

In a good way. 

Who leaves the dais, weaves through the dining tables to deliver the keynote address, then jumps up on a chair in the middle of a rather formal banquet?

Kim Bearden does. 

And it works. 

Why?

Because she has what we all need in everything we do — passion."