LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Beth DesRosiers was nominated by an anonymous student.

The student reflected on Mrs. DesRosiers' soft smile as an assuring gesture to the student that everything would be okay while they took the AP US History test. 

Mrs. DesRosiers consistently showed enthusiasm when students sought help, sharing strategies she had personally used to navigate challenging classes during her own student years. One of the most effective strategies she used to help her students learn was covering up the answers with a hand while reading the test question. She told her students to read the question, close their eyes, and then try to come up with what they thought an answer could be. After the students thought of an answer, they were told to uncover the possible answer choices and select the answer that best matched the answer they had come up with before. 

While this strategy may seem like common sense, discerning the best answer among four seemingly correct options in AP classes can be exceptionally difficult.

"Mrs. DesRosiers is not only a teacher but also a wife, mother, talented musician, and a student herself. I like to think of Mrs. DesRosiers as a student like myself because she constantly seeks further education. She knows what it's like to struggle in classes, so she understands how to help and encourage her students effectively," the nominator noted.

Early in the school year, the student was surprised to find a notification on their laptop in the early hours—Mrs. DesRosiers had just graded one of their essays at nearly 2:00 AM. This notification sparked a series of almost daily 20-minute conversations after class, during which the student asked Mrs. DesRosiers about her late-night grading habits. Mrs. DesRosiers explained that she often stayed up late grading because she was actively pursuing another Master's degree while teaching multiple AP Psych and AP US History classes.

Mrs. DesRosiers has a B.A. in History from Bradley University and continued her education while teaching full-time to acquire her Master's of Education from Carroll University. By the end of the year, after taking her AP US History class, she had finished her Master's of Arts in American History from Gettysburg College. 

"Mrs. DesRosiers is kind, considerate, and loving to all her students. Every time I walk past her classroom, she greets me with a smile and asks how I am even though I am no longer a student of hers. Thank you for everything," the student expressed.