Kim Beardon gestures Tuesday during her keynote address to the Lewiston school district faculty and staff in the Lewiston High School gymnasium on East Avenue. A nationally recognized motivational speaker, she draws on her experience as a teacher, instructional lead teacher, curriculum director, school board member, staff development trainer and middle school principal to inspire educators to be more compassionate and effective. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Hundreds of Lewiston Public Schools teachers and staff gathered Tuesday, the day before classes begin, to listen to an acclaimed educator from Atlanta.

“I know Lewiston has a very diverse population,” Kim Beardon said before her keynote speech. “I know it has kids with needs that must be met, just like everywhere else.”

Bearden is a co-founder and a language arts teacher at Atlanta’s Ron Clark Academy, a private middle school and educator training facility.

The highly-exclusive school draws thousands of educators from around the world for workshops and training sessions. According to the school’s website, several hundred applicants are vetted for the school’s 32 openings each year. In 2024, full tuition for families not seeking financial aid was $18,000 per year.

In Lewiston, the district’s enrollment is still growing, Superintendent Jake Langlais said Tuesday. The current number is 5,743, up from 5,701 in late July.

In her address, Bearden highlighted building core relationships and filling in high expectations as an educator.

“We’ve got to take care of each other,” Bearden said. “This, is hard work.”

Kim Beardon stands on a chair Tuesday during her keynote address to the Lewiston school district faculty and staff in the Lewiston High School gymnasium on East Avenue. The nationally recognized motivational speaker draws on her experience as a teacher, instructional lead teacher, curriculum director, school board member, staff development trainer, and middle school principal to inspire educators to be more compassionate and effective. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

Bearden gave examples from her career in an animated speech, recalling the times where she’d turned the tide despite less-than-ideal circumstances.

Teachers had takeaways from Bearden’s speech.

“I think it’s awesome, inspiring,” said Jennifer Richardson, who teaches career trades and exploration at Lewiston Regional Technical Center. “I think there are some tools that I’ll be able to utilize in my class.”

“How she relates to, or how she talks about relating to students who have issues in the class, and parents who might have issues … I think she’s thinking about it in the right way,” Lewiston High School math teacher Larry Eytel said.

“(It might be helpful) to abstract yourself from a situation that may be very emotional to think about,” Eytel said. “It’s no good to blame yourself for things that you know are just going to happen anyway.”