Making a difference in one’s community – one’s world – can take on many forms. And the results of those good deeds touch many in the here-and-now, while forming a lasting legacy that touches future generations.

That is why The Mexico Ledger honors Hidden Heroes.

Elizabeth “Beth” Lower’s passion in life is teaching and it is something she considers “a gift from God.”

“I always wanted to develop a relationship with the students – make them feel like they matter and know that they are important,” Lower said

Lower grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. She did her undergraduate studies at William Jewell College in Liberty and got her masters degree from William Woods in Fulton

Lower and her husband Brad moved to Mexico 35 years ago. Before that, she was a teacher in Concordia for 11 years.

She continued her teaching career in Mexico spending one year at Mexico High School before transitioning to Mexico Middle School.

“I always like to say, ‘I taught sixth grade for 18 years and lived to tell about it.’” Lower said.

Lower explained that she stuck with sixth grade for all those years because she felt like they needed an advocate the most.

While teaching was her calling in life, Lower also considers herself a “life long learner.”

In her last four years of teaching, she had the opportunity to coach volleyball despite having no coaching experience.

“That was a whole new, wonderful experience,” Lower said. “The athletic director was willing to give me a chance and the head coach was willing to take me on.”

She coached junior varsity volleyball at the high school for two years and was in on the ground floor when they brought volleyball to the middle school.

Once a teacher, always a teacher

Lower retired in 2009 but never ceased her efforts in making a difference in children' s lives.

PATCH, parents and their children, is a program in conjunction with the Chillicothe Correctional Center that Lower is heavily involved in.

“What we do is we take children to the prison for a four-hour visit with their moms,” Lower said.

The mothers can only have one visit a month and Lower can only take two children per visit. Right now, she is working with a family with five children, so every month, she takes them, two at a time, to spend quality time with their mother.

She transports children from all over mid-Missouri and has worked with families in Mexico, Moberly, Macon, Columbia and Auxvasse to name a few.

“If we’re the reason that kids get to see their moms, then it’s worth it,” Lower said.

As rewarding as it is to reunite a family, Lower said it can be equally as heartbreaking.

“They’re so happy on the way and on the way home, we are at the opposite end,” Lower said.

But Lower has made it her mission to be as encouraging and positive as possible with these children who are at their most vulnerable.

Her time with PATCH started after she read about the program in her church’s newsletter, which coincidently is how she became a mentor through OASIS.

“I got to meet with this second grade girl once a week and work on her reading skills and also just do some nurturing,” Lower said.

OASIS used to be a Mexico Public Schools program, which is where Lower got her start. After the school district did away with the mentor program, she stuck with OASIS and is now a pen-pal with students in New Bloomfield.

Every January, she gets a new student and they both read a book. Once a month, they send a letter discussing the book.

“It’s their letter writing in their curriculum," Lower said. “They get to practice their letter writing skills and we just get the joy of hearing from them.”

While Mexico Public Schools is no longer utilizing the OASIS mentor program, they are still connecting the community and its schools through Bright Futures.

One such program connects a school with a local church who supports them, which is how Lower became a member of Team McMillan.

“Every month, we have some kind of little moral booster for the staff,” Lower said.

As a retired teacher, she feels like she understands how much it means to be acknowledged and to know that people support teachers and their efforts.

She and the rest of Team McMillan don’t just support the teachers, but their students as well. Every year, they gift blankets to kindergarteners and host a year round “drive for drawers”

“Pre-schoolers and kindergarteners have a lot of accidents so we take shorts, jeans, shirts and new underwear to the nurse so anytime somebody needs a change of clothes, she has something to give them,” Lower said.

Lower’s church, Mexico United Methodist, has been the catalyst for a lot of her volunteer efforts, but they don’t stop there.

“Church isn’t meant to be inside four walls, in my belief,” Lower said. “If that’s the case, you’re only helping yourself, not anyone else.”

PATCH, OASIS and Team McMillan are just a few of the many ways Lower gives back to her community. She is also a lunch buddy who has been there to support students from second grade through their high school graduation, a volunteer with Uplift Mid-MO and an Angel Tree coordinator.

“I know myself and know I can’t sit on a couch and watch television,” Lower said. “I am a people person, so I want to be around other people and learn from them, and maybe they can learn from me.”