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Maroon Through and Through: Meet Mt. Abe's Bev Mayer

photo provided Bev Meyer

Tuesday June 18, 2013

By Cookie Steponaitis

When Bev Mayer started at Mount Abraham Union High School in April 1975 as the Principal's secretary Jack Connolly was at the helm. “I never dreamed I would still be here after all these years but the time has gone by much too quickly,” reflected Bev Mayer. “Working at Mt. Abe has been a big part of my life.” Bev is anchored in the knowledge that staff and faculty play a key role in the lives of the students and feels that over the years they have often taken on the roles of mentor, mother, confidant, friend and for generations at Mt. Abe been more than a friendly face or voice. “Students often stop in and ask questions about their parents when they went to Mount Abe,” shared Bev Mayer. “I think that they want to know if they ever made mistakes, got into trouble or what they were like as students. We usually try to paint a positive picture but we also add that they are a lot like their parents and what they are like now is similar to what their parents were like at their age.” While there have been many changes in the educational system over the years Mayer feels that students today take on a bigger role in planning their own future and course of action that best fits their needs and go from there. While they are still required to have certain classes to graduate Mayer feels that there are numerous options open to them as the result of the computer age and technology that did not exist when she began in the 1970's

    “When I first started working here we did not have copiers, fax machines, email and computers,” chuckled Mayer. “It sounds like I started in the Stone Age! All of these inventions have changed the way our work is done and I don't know how we got along without them. Of course it doesn't mean these inventions always worked the way they should but with a little TLC they were back running smoothly.” While many students stand out in her mind Mayer was happy to share the experience of one student that happened just a few years ago. “This particular student who I knew very well wanted to give up,” shared Mayer. “I told him he was almost at the finish line and he could earn his diploma with a little effort. I'm glad to say he stuck with it and did graduate. Last year I saw him for the first time since he graduated. He had moved out of state, gotten married and has children. He told me he knew how much I encouraged him and was very thankful.  He also said he was going through the same thing with his daughter. I told him not to give up on her and to give her encouragement. He promised me that he would.”

    Mayer who is looking ahead to the graduation of the Class of 2014 says the best advice she received  came during her first year at Mt. Abe when she was told to be herself and never give up, keep going and you will be fine.  Mayer believes that the teens and that advice have kept her at her post and young.  “Mt. Abe is a great place to be,” concluded Bev Mayer. “We are here for each other in good times and bad times.” Spoken like a true Eagle with a heart that beats for teens and loves all things maroon. The Valley Voice salutes Bev Mayer and her counterparts in the local schools who are anchors in the lives of teens and in generations that call the valley home.

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