Personal connections have always been at the heart of Beth Anderson Hjelm’s BA ’77 North Park experience.

A retired physical education teacher, Hjelm credits Professor Gertruda “Trudy” Zemelis with helping her land an interview for her first teaching job. Though Hjelm’s career centered around working with school-age children, she also served as an adjunct lecturer and cooperating teacher for North Park student teachers.

“I hope the mission of North Park, ‘to prepare students for lives of significance and service,’ is reflected in my life and my choices,” Hjelm says. “My desire was to be the best teacher I could be, share my love for learning and movement with my students, and mentor teachers in their quest to provide quality physical education for their students.”

My desire was to be the best teacher I could be, share my love for learning and movement with my students, and mentor teachers in their quest to provide quality physical education for their students.

North Park—and teaching—is a family affair. Hjelm’s husband, the late Dr. John R. Hjelm BA ’75, longtime professor of exercise and sport, was a fellow North Parker, as are their daughters, Andra Hjelm Dalton BS ’06, a local middle school physical education and health teacher, and Lisa Hjelm Cousineau BA ’08, a Michigan-based math intervention specialist. The Hjelm women established a scholarship fund in John’s memory to continue his legacy and inspire future North Park exercise science and physical education majors to strive for excellence through passion and commitment.

Hjelm has not only stayed connected to North Park through this scholarship: she and her college friends—Sharon Hanstad Anderson BA ’77, Kerstin Swanson Hilton BA ’77, and Ruth Jensen Zschoche BA ’77—remain in close contact and will soon embark on a trip to celebrate a milestone birthday and more than 50 years of friendship.

“I predict there will be lots of laughter, some tears, great food, and little sleep,” Hjelm says. “A lot like Ohlson House in September 1973!”