Gary Beyer inspires students as both a Pascack Valley High School substitute teacher and wrestling coach.
He uses his knowledge gained in his career in technology and leadership to provide wisdom to students.
Beyer has been a part of the Pascack Valley community since he first attended the school.
“I’m a Valley guy,” Beyer said. “I went to Pascack Valley myself, my kids went to Valley, [and] I coach at Valley.”
As a substitute teacher, Beyer doesn’t enjoy just babysitting the classes; he prefers to talk with the students, and his quotes of the day allow him to do just that.
“I put [a quote] up [on the board] to give the students something to think about, and it also allows me to talk to them about something, because I’m not a guy who just likes to sit there and just kind of watch everybody do the work,” Beyer said.
Beyer began his custom of sharing quotes with his own children when they were young.
“[I’ve been writing quotes] with my kids since they were little,” Beyer said. “I used to put it on our island in the middle of our kitchen, [and] when I would go to work, I would leave it there. I [later] created a family group chat, and… every morning I put a quote, say some nice things, I share some things about my day, and ask them about their day.”
Beyer now shares this tradition with his students at PVHS.
“I think it’s [the quotes are] unique,” one PVHS student said. “Most substitutes try to control the class, and he tries to connect with the class, and that really does brighten my day.”
Beyer’s quotes not only bring fun into the classroom but also teach and inspire students.
“[One day], I’m… substitute teaching for Schuls [business teacher Matthew Schulien], and I was talking to them about how you need to kind of just get after it when you want to make a business happen successfully, and so I had a quote,” said Beyer. “[The quote was] ‘the way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.’”
This quote by Walt Disney perfectly exemplifies Beyer’s drive for success and his knowledge of business from his past jobs in technology. He began his career working as a Sales and Business Executive at IBM.
“[IBM’s] where I started my career. I loved every day of it,” Beyer said. “IBM is the original big computer company. I enjoyed working there because I got to work with great people, and I was constantly challenged and constantly had the opportunity to do meaningful, important stuff.”
Beyer was an important part of IBM, a large consulting and technology company. He began his work there right out of college and stayed for 35 years.
When he eventually retired from IBM, Beyer decided to apply for a job at Google.
“I had heard a lot about the interview experience, and I heard it was really cool and different, and so I thought it would be fun to see what it was all about,” said Beyer. “So, I began the process, and interview after interview was exciting and fun, and I continued to advance through the process, and all of a sudden they [Google] offered me a job.”
Google is a well-known company that provided Beyer with even more skills and innovation.
“The creativity, how the working relationships are, and in the actual job itself are unique,” said Beyer. “The people at Google [were] really interesting and cool. They tended to all be way younger than me, [and] I enjoy interacting with [them]… I had a lot of experience and, usually, I was able to bring those experiences to help the people around me to do their jobs better.”
He worked at Google for five years before moving on to substitute teaching.
“I was responsible for growing and managing relationships with clients so that they could leverage Google Cloud services and the various offerings that Google has for their companies,” Beyer said.
Beyer uses his extensive experience and knowledge to inspire and help his wrestlers when coaching.
Beyer discussed his relationship with one of his wrestlers, a PVHS senior.
“Anthony Lekaj, he’s one of my hardest workers, [and] he’s a great young man,” said Beyer. “He and I have been talking a lot about his future, where he wants to go to school, and so not only do we have the connection with just working out and with wrestling, but just with what he’s trying to do going forward.”
Beyer enjoys assisting his wrestlers in all the ways he can, especially when it comes to things he knows a lot about, like college and running a business.
He shared about another relationship he has with a senior wrestler at PVHS.
“George Hamilton, he’s one of my captains on the team and just a great young man and a great wrestler…he’s gonna go on and wrestle at Springfield [College] and then go to school at Springfield,” Beyer said. “I enjoyed that he looked to me for assistance and just help in making decisions about his next step, which is to go on to college.”
However, Beyer’s influence at PVHS isn’t limited to just his coaching.
“I have lots of good memories of each and every interaction I have [had] with the students,” said Beyer. “Every year, I always connect with lots and lots of students.”
Whether it’s through his quotes of the day, his knowledge in business, or his coaching, Beyer has always brought positivity and warmth into PVHS.
“The simplest fact about me is that I enjoy being around people and I enjoy being involved, doing stuff that maybe is helpful, meaningful,” said Beyer. “When I wake up in the morning, I want to go out and I want to be positive, I want to smile and I want to bring positive energy because when I do that, it makes me feel good and I think it makes other people feel good [too].”
