A Teacher with Heart

After her first day as a teacher at a Salt Lake City school for homeless children, Stacey Bess put her head down on her desk and sobbed. She was already planning on finding another job.

Today, 10 years later, Sister Bess not only is still teaching at the school—known as the School With No Name—but has written a widely acclaimed book about her experiences. She has received national awards and recognition for her work, and a well-known film producer has met with her to discuss a possible movie based on the book.

Before being hired at the school, Sister Bess had envisioned teaching in a more conventional setting—not in a corrugated metal shed under a viaduct. “But I stayed because I realized I was giving these kids their childhood,” she says. “In their sad little lives, it was so rare to just be a kid. I fell in love with them and couldn’t let go.”

Sister Bess inherited a legacy of compassion from her mother, who formerly worked at a juvenile detention center and often brought home frightened children during emergencies. Occasionally Sister Bess, with the support of her husband and children, has brought kids to her own home during crises. On a daily basis her classroom provides a refuge for children who must deal with realities most adults never have to face.

Last year Sister Bess received the National Rescuer of Humanity Award, along with former United States president Jimmy Carter. “It is critical that we love our children,” she stresses. People shouldn’t feel they have to create huge miracles, she says, “but I can create small ones and you can create small ones, and together we can create something grand.”

She is a member of the Holladay Third Ward, Salt Lake Holladay Stake.

Photo by Rick Egan