Dr. Mary Beshaler was born and raised in Hooper, Nebraska and attended the last five years of her formal secondary education in a school that had consolidated with Uehling, Winslow, and Nickerson to become Logan View Jr.-Sr. High School. After graduating from Logan View, she attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and received her Bachelor of Science degree in K-12 Physical Education with a 7-12 Coaching Endorsement. It was in Love Library on UNL’s City Campus where she met her husband John. Together they have three children, three granddaughters, and another grandchild due in May.
Dr. Beshaler’s first teaching job was with Cozad City Schools as their junior high physical education teacher, junior high volleyball and basketball coach, and high school varsity girls’ basketball coach. After the birth of her first child, she remained involved in education, coaching, and officiating volleyball, but chose to be more of a “stay-at-home-mom” until her youngest was a first-grader. It was also at this time that she returned to college to complete an endorsement in Business Education. In 1991, Dr. Beshaler took a job teaching business and coaching volleyball and track in the Stapleton Public Schools system. During these next fourteen years at Stapleton, she continued her commitment to lifelong learning by completing her Masters degrees in Curriculum and Instruction, School Counseling, and Community Counseling. She took a year-long break from education in 2005 to fulfill requirements for her Practicum and Internship hours in the community mental health field; however, in 2006, she chose to return to the school environment after being hired by Callaway Public Schools as their Guidance Counselor. She is presently completing her eleventh year in this position.
Experiences with self-esteem issues in women sparked a desire for her to begin her Doctoral program and focus her research and dissertation on father-daughter relationships and the role the biological father plays in building his daughter’s self-worth—a study specific to women in rural Nebraska and dedicated to a very courageous, loving, and supportive father. She received her PhD in Psychology in 2010.
Children: Alicia (Marc) Ericksen, Ashley (Klint) Andreas, Evan (Kellsy) Beshaler
Granddaughters: Elliot, Lillian, and Lennon
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