Name: Beth Helm
Company: Berrien RESA
What Does Your Company/Organization Do? Berrien RESA collaborates with area educators, community partners, businesses and families to ensure every student in Berrien County reaches their full potential and thrives within our community and beyond.
Age: 39
Education: BA Communication Arts; MA Educational Psychology; EdS School Psychology
Accomplishments:
Aside from raising three amazing children, I consider my greatest accomplishment to be the work I do with and for children and young adults in our community who have disabilities. Over the years, I have been able to provide special education services to children and young adults ages birth to 26 years through Berrien RESA, coach families as they meet the needs of their children, partner with local businesses to offer job training and employment opportunities for our high school and young adult students, collaborate with local service agencies that support our students as they transition out of the public education system, teach future educators as a university adjunct professor, and partner with the Lions Clubs of Southwest Michigan and Wolf Financial Advisory as Director of Camp Leo, an overnight summer camp experience for children and young adults who have disabilities.
Current City: Berrien Springs
Place You Were Born: Lake Orion, MI
What was your first job? At age 12, I started cleaning houses in order to pay for violin lessons.
What motivates you to give back to your community? I believe every single person has the right, and the need, to belong. No matter our status, skills or abilities, there is enough space within our community for everyone, if only we are willing to accommodate and truly care for one another.
What Superpower would you most love to have? I think I’d like to be invisible so I could listen to students’ conversations when there isn’t an adult around. Kids say the wildest things!
What would you like to leave behind as your legacy once you are gone? I hope the world will be a bit kinder and more accepting because I was here.
