Stacey Bess
Stacey Bess | |
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| Born | 16 October 1963 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Education | University of Utah (BA) |
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Stacey Bess (born October 16, 1963 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American author and educator. She wrote the memoir Nobody Don't Love Nobody, which was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie in 2011 called Beyond the Blackboard.
Early life
[edit]Bess was born on October 16, 1963 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her mother, Susan, was a secretary for a juvenile detention center in Salt Lake City.[1] Her step-father, Roger Coon, was a fundraiser.[1]
Bess attended the University of Utah, graduating with a B.A. in elementary education in 1987.[2][1]
Career
[edit]Bess' first teaching job, the only assignment she could find, was teaching math and reading at a school for children in a homeless shelter in Salt Lake City, Utah.[2] She was told she would teach grades K–6, but she instead had to teach grades K–12.[3] The school was known as "The School With No Name"[4]
She wrote the memoir Nobody Don’t Love Nobody: Lessons on Love From the School With No Name in 1994, about her experiences teaching homeless children at the homeless shelter.[5][1] In 2011, the book was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie called Beyond the Blackboard.[6] After her book was published, she continued to teach at the homeless shelter part time.[4]
Bess now works as a public speaker, advocating for the educational rights of impoverished children.[2] She also wrote Planting More Than Pansies: A Fable about Love in 2003.[7]
Awards and honors
[edit]Her service has been recognized with a number of awards, including the National Jefferson Award for Greatest Public Service by Someone 35 Years or Younger in 1995.[8] She received the Delta Kappa Gamma Educator's Award in 1995 and the Rescuer of Humanity from Project Love in 1996.[9][10]
Personal life
[edit]Bess married Greg Bess, a commercial real estate appraiser in 1980 when she was sixteen and he was seventeen.[1][4] The couple then went on to finish high school.[4] They have six children.[2] She has had thyroid cancer twice, surviving her first round when she was thirty.[6][1][4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Plummer, William (November 7, 1994). "Shelter in the Heart". People vol. 42, no. 19. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2025-03-27 – via web.archive.org.
- 1 2 3 4 "About Stacey Bess". Stacey Bess. 2017-02-08. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ↑ Bess, Stacey (1994). Nobody Don't Love Nobody: Lessons on Love from the School with No Name. Gold Leaf Press. ISBN 978-1-882723-10-2.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Groutage, Hilary (1995-01-22). "'School With No Name' Looks a Lot Like Heaven to Its Homeless Pupils : Salt Lake City: Stacey Bess started teaching in a metal hut under a freeway viaduct. Because of her own troubled history, she relates to her pupils. 'I've had a really rough life,' she says. 'The gray in my hair is warranted.'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-03-27.
- ↑ Fisher, Rich (2015-01-28). "A Conversation with Stacey Bess, a Noted Teacher and Education Advocate Soon Appearing in Tulsa". Public Radio Tulsa. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
- 1 2 Howell, Blair (2024-01-02). "TV movie 'Beyond the Blackboard' profiles teacher's struggles". Deseret News. Retrieved 2024-05-05.
- ↑ Bess, Stacey; Ricks, Melissa (2003). Planting more than pansies : a fable about love. Internet Archive. Salt Lake City, Utah : Shadow Mountain. ISBN 978-1-57008-893-3.
- ↑ "National", Past winners, Jefferson awards, archived from the original on November 24, 2010.
- ↑ "Looking for Interesting Reading ? Try an Educator's Award book" (PDF). Delta Kappa Gamma. 2007. Retrieved March 27, 2025.
- ↑ Jarvik, Elaine (1997-04-30). "No name . . . but maybe a movie". Deseret News. Retrieved 2025-03-27.