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Graduating from Simpson with a degree in history, Beatty’s first 30 years as an educator featured multiple stops throughout Iowa as a high school social studies teacher, coach and administrator. Then his career took a major turn — thousands of miles from his home state.
In 2018, Beatty embraced a calling into full-time Christian missionary work as an educator abroad through TeachBeyond. He ventured 8,000 miles to serve as the NGO CEO/administrative director for William Carey Academy (WCA) in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Beatty also taught economics and coached basketball at the international school, which featured an American curriculum in English medium designed to prepare Bangladeshi students for study at world-class universities.
“Having lived in Iowa my entire life, the decision to accept the position was stepping out in faith to serve God and the Bangladeshi students,” said Beatty. “Simpson’s liberal arts education was significant to the openness and perspective needed to adapt and educate in the vastly different culture and poverty of a developing country.”
During his four years in Bangladesh, Beatty, who holds an MBA and Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from the University of Iowa, met his wife, Lucy — a Kenyan teacher at WCA. They intended to move back to the U.S. in 2022, but visa processing delays led them to accept positions at Lighthouse Primary and Secondary School — a Christian school on the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius.
As executive head of school at Lighthouse, Beatty oversees a rich diversity of preschool to senior student body of 580 students. It includes Mauritian descendants from India, multiple African nations, China, France, and the UK — along with expatriate students from Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Ukraine and the U.S. All socio-economic classes are represented, and faith expressions include Hindu, Christian and Islam religions.
“Regardless of where I’ve been an educator, I have always sought to change the odds for students. Engaging with Christian schools abroad has extended the scope beyond the college and career focus to changing the eternal odds for students.”