For those walking down the halls, Ron Beck is a familiar face and voice meandering through the social studies wing. If you’ve ever had a class with Fischer, you know there must be a code word for when Beck jumps into the classroom unbeknownst to Fish.
Something unfortunate though, is that unless you wrestle or are a senior in his Government class, there aren’t many ways to meet the wonderful Beck; this isn’t to say though, that if you encounter him he won’t be anything but friendly and energetic.
Beck has some of the deepest roots in our school compared to anyone else. He has been at Sentinel for years on top of years. He went to high school here, was on our wrestling team, and his dad was a P.E. teacher and wrestling coach himself.
There also continues to be other Becks in the halls, as Mr. Beck has had two kids in the past 8 years at the school with him. He says that having his kids here with him is one of his favorite things ever, he’s uncertain about next year, as his son is a senior here and will graduate in the spring. His kids have the ability to change the effects of a bad day simply by asking for some lunch money.
Beck has no intentions of leaving the walls of Sentinel High School, as this is where he started his teaching career. He always knew he wanted to teach and never questioned that Sentinel would be the place to do it. Within our school, he student taught, got hired part-time for a semester, and by the next, he was full-time. For the majority of his time, he has taught social studies, but with his endorsement in special education, he worked in the structured learning program for special ed and worked in that department for 9 years. This section of work is undeniably stressful and with a passion for social studies he moved back to the department.
He is now delving into history through film and has finally tried to kick-start Montana Issues in the second semester of 2023-2024 school year after it got derailed during COVID.
Though Beck has proved to love his work, that doesn’t mean he is consumed by all things Spartan. In his time outside of Sentinel’s halls, he enjoys working at a fly fishing shop and doing some carpentry. Previous to being a teacher, he was a fishing guide for 10 years, 2 of which were in Alaska! Though he loved the cold and village life in Alaska and would have loved to spend more time up north, his new wife at the time was not such a fan. Luckily, her decision to stay here gave us all our wonderful government teacher. He now says that his school “is [his] home.”
Beck claims that guiding fishing trips is very similar to teaching, and that’s why he has a love for both. Being a fishing guide causes you to learn how to deal with a lot of different kinds of people, which blatantly is the same as teaching.
When it comes to all the people Beck interacts with, inside and outside of school, he is fond of people who are confident in their own skin. Those who don’t strive to simply impress those around them, prove themselves more vulnerable in classroom settings.
At one point in his career, he remembered a student who fit this description and said that Beck’s class had changed the course he had planned on going for his career. The student had initially wanted to study business at school, but after Government with Beck, he decided that he was also passionate about political sciences and went down that route instead.
As Beck continues teaching now, he is ecstatic for the new leadership coming from administration this year. In the past 6-8 years there have been complications within the administrative part of Sentinel, and a lot of the leadership roles have been put onto the teachers. Though they have taken the responsibility with stride, there shouldn’t be that kind of pressure on those who weren’t hired for such a job. He does argue though, that there is a role that staff, as well as students, need to fulfill better as the school year goes on.
That is the role of representation for those who don’t often get it. Kids with documents who need special accommodations are getting what they need, however there are kids within the walls of Sentinel who do need that help and unfortunately aren’t getting it. Kids like this try to fade into the background and try not to be seen, but they deserve the recognition that everyone else does. Beck claims that especially they, and all other students, need preparation for the real world outside of high school.
On a note of preparation and good examples, something Beck has only good things to say about is Wrestling. He is one of our amazing wrestling coaches at Sentinel, same as his dad was. Beck claims that you don’t have to be a state champ to get the full benefits of wrestling. This isn’t to say that wrestling is a sport that any kid can do, he knows many amazing kids that maybe wouldn’t make it in the wrestling room. This to say though, there are plenty of places at Sentinel where any and every student can and will belong.
Mr. Beck is not only a friendly face in the hall, but also an amazing person who is a true spartan at heart. There are no questions that if there was anyone who should represent our spartan ways and prove the heart that Sentinel has, it’s Beck. One of Beck’s dear friends at the school is that which is right across the hall, Fischer. When Mr.Fischer is asked to share some truth on Beck, he claims,“Besides being a great teacher, I don’t know anybody who has a greater commitment to the Sentinel community.” I don’t think anyone could have said it better.
