I was very saddened to learn of the passing of Bruce Beaty, who served for many years in the county school system as a teacher, principal and special education director.
Mr. Beaty was my ninth-grade science teacher and my 11th-grade chemistry teacher at Sweetwater High School back in the early 1980s.

I have one very poignant memory of Mr. Beaty from when I was a student before getting to know him well again in my capacity as a reporter.
In the ninth grade, I was a very good science student, all A's if I recall correctly, under Mr. Beaty's tutelage.

But by the time the 11th grade rolled around, I had become a classic under achiever when it came to academics. In fairness to me, I took some pretty difficult classes and had a ton of homework that year and I won't even go into details about what Ms. Lee did to the juniors at SHS!
But when my chemistry grades lagged, I went to Mr. Beaty and asked if he would let me out of his class. I needed to get rid of one of those difficult classes, I figured.
But Mr. Beaty, I guess recalling that I had made A's under him just two years before, would not let me drop the class.

I hung on and survived chemistry that year.
Monroe County Director of Schools Mike Lowry said the county school system had not only lost a great educator with the passing of Mr. Beaty, but a good friend as well.
One of the busiest times for me as a reporter is when the state Report Cards come out.
I dare say no small newspaper in the state does more Report Card coverage than we do but even with that, there is a wealth of information on the state Web site tn.gov/education/reportcard/index.shtml in addition to what we do here at The Advocate & Democrat.

tommy.millsaps@advocateanddemocrat.com | 337-7101