[August 05, 2011] Veteran school leader retires Tweet Aug 03, 2011 (The Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- In the late 1980s, Keith Beamon loaded 15 desktop computers into the back of his Datsun truck and headed out to Johnston County middle schools. During two-week courses at each school, his goal was to introduce the little-known world of computer science to students and teachers. Beamon, now 58, retired Aug. 1 as the Johnston County Schools' chief academic officer. During a career in Johnston that spanned three decades, he helped schools usher in new technology, adapt to ever-changing student assessments and deal with a massive growth spurt. Through it all, Beamon developed an attitude of personal accountability when it came to students' success. "Every kid in Johnston County that doesn't make it -- it bothers me," he said. "There's a huge price that kid's going to pay because we couldn't figure out how to make it work for him." Beamon has been front and center in Johnston school administration for years, but he said he never aspired to become superintendent. "Too much politics," he said. "I'd rather teach a kid than have to battle a politician." Even so, Beamon isn't shy about sounding off on political issues that shape schools. He worries that charter schools and vouchers for private schools will draw more-affluent students away from traditional public schools. Poor students have a harder time attending charter schools because those schools don't offer transportation or free and reduced-price lunches, Beamon said. "The potential danger in this is it could easily -- easily -- resegregate the schools in North Carolina," he said. "That is the biggest challenge facing our education leaders right now -- how to combat that, how legislators just don't get it. ... It's scary." A passion to serve A native of Goldsboro, Beamon graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1974 and earned a master's in science teaching four years later. He taught high school science in Cabarrus and Alamance counties before he came to Johnston in the early 1980s to be closer to family. Beamon taught high school and middle school science for five years in Princeton. When the school got a classroom set of computers, he began teaching programming to interested students before school each morning. But not every school had computers, so Beamon later took his act on the road and began hauling the machines to other schools. In the years that followed, he moved up the ranks and became a math and science supervisor, director of instruction, assistant superintendent and finally the chief academic officer, who oversees student accountability. "He has a wealth of knowledge," said Johnston schools Superintendent Ed Croom. "If there's an educator who is there with a passion to serve all children, it's Keith." Working with five superintendents over the years, Beamon said he is proud of the strides students have made on academic assessments. Two decades ago, he said, Johnston was "a so-so school district in terms of student performance." Now, he said, it's in the "upper echelon" in the state. Last school year, Johnston students in grades 3-8 exceeded the state's performance expectations in reading and nearly reached the math goal. Beamon said the progress has gone hand in hand with growth. When he arrived in Johnston County, he said, the school system had about 13,000 students and about 15 schools. Now, it has 32,000 students and more than 40 schools. In his early years in the system, Beamon said, many students had no dreams of college, instead opting to work on the family farm. But over the years, so much farmland has turned into subdivisions filled with families that have hopes for higher education. "I think there's been a fundamental shift in the attitude of the county," Beamon said. "The change in Johnston County has caused things to change in the school system. That's kept it interesting." A cat to care for Beamon left the classroom for a career in administration, but he said not a day went by when he didn't miss teaching, especially older students. "Put me in a middle school, I'm just as happy as I can be," Beamon said. "I think I can get middle school and high school kids to follow my leadership. Put me in a class of 20 or 25 second-graders, I'd be scared to death. I don't know how they work." So far, he has no big plans for retirement. "My daughter told me I have to babysit her cat, so that's the first thing I'll do," Beamon said. And he'll likely continue to long for his classroom days. "My fundamental passion is teaching -- whether it's another teacher or a kid," he said. "Or maybe a cat." 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