Bev Landers – A Force for Good For Thousands Of North State School Kids

“My earliest memories are of teaching all my stuffed animals and dolls,” says Bev Landers, Paradise Charter Middle School’s principal and superintendent. “I started babysitting at age 11, as soon as they’d let me. I love kids and I love to learn, and that’s really my whole motivation.”

Bev moved to Paradise, CA in eighth grade, when her father — a tremendous inspirational force in her life — became one of the founding instructors in the math and electronics department at Butte College. In 1986, Bev followed her father’s footsteps and began her teaching career.

After eight sweet years of teaching at Chico Christian School and four years as an educational consultant, Bev became a principal, first at Chico Country Day School and then at Chico Christian School. “There were 199 kids when I got to Chico Christian, and when I left there were 428,” Bev remembers. “It was a K-6 and we made it into a K-8. We doubled teacher salaries, and worked really hard to make it a high caliber school.”

Teaching kids, teaching teachers and working as a life coach

During the last of her 14 years at Chico Christian, Bev earned her master’s degree in curriculum and instruction. Subsequently, she began teaching at Chico State’s School of Education. A decade later, Bev still delights in teaching aspiring teachers — even while juggling other positions. For the nine years before beginning at Paradise Charter Middle School (PCMS), for example, she taught full-time at Chico State while simultaneously serving for 30 hours a week as the children’s ministry director at Grace Community Church in Chico. Today, alongside her dual roles at PCMS and Chico State, Bev offers her warm and wise support as a certified life coach.

She never stops learning and wanting to grow

While this ability to tirelessly hold multiple roles might appear superhuman, Bev is the first to admit her own shortcomings. “She shares about her weakest moments and struggles so I can learn from them,” says Shannon Krelle, Bev’s friend, mentee and former employee. “She’s incredibly academic, professional and ambitious, but she’s also very authentic. Through her vulnerability, she guides others to be stronger, wiser and more successful in life.”

Chris Palmer, who taught under Bev’s principalship at Chico Christian and now teaches at PCMS, also attests to Bev’s guiding wisdom. Just when he thinks he has perfected the art of teaching, Bev makes a suggestion that opens a new door of potential growth. “She never stops learning and wanting to grow,” Chris says. “She has credentials galore, but she is so teachable and humble in spirit. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from her, it’s humility and servant-leadership, and that you can never outgrow learning and changing. She expects it of the kids and she models it herself.”
Restorative discipline helps kids learn better choices

One of the ways Bev models lifelong learning is through restorative discipline, a relationship-focused approach that walks students through a series of reflective questions.

“My take is that kids are learning,” Bev explains. “They’re going to make mistakes, and our job is to help them learn from them and make new mistakes instead of repeating the same old mistakes. My favorite thing to do in a day is help a student work through a poor choice to arrive at what would be a better choice. We’re learning how to live together.”

Bev will never count a kid out

Shannon estimates that Bev has impacted thousands of North State children over the course of her career, and she continues to invest in her students, their parents and her staff as unique and valued individuals. “In education it’s really easy to get jaded,” Chris says, “but it’s like the parable of the lost sheep; Bev will never count a kid out or too far gone.”

When she’s not out rescuing “lost sheep,” Bev loves to walk, ride bikes with her husband or spend time with their five adult children and 14 grandchildren. A voracious reader, Bev refreshes during the school year with books about spiritual growth and educational practices. “I don’t do any pleasure reading until the summer because I’ll stay up all night!” she exclaims. For this summer, she has The Lady’s Mine, the latest novel by her favorite author, Francine Rivers, first in the queue.

“Working with children — influencing the next generation for good — is the greatest honor anyone could ever have,” Bev says. “I will hopefully not retire until I’m no longer effective. I want to always be in education, either employed or as a volunteer. I want to continue to impact the lives of children for the best.”