Beckwith promoted to dean

When Patrick Beckwith was promoted to dean of students at Carson High School, he envisioned days spent solely dealing with attendance and discipline. He was wrong.

"We really get every assortment of miscellaneous events that occur - when in doubt go see the deans," Beckwith said. "Kids show up with things going on that have nothing to do with attendance and discipline. We may not have all the answers but we can get them to the person who does."

Still, he can't escape the day-to-day disciplinary issues. Before the bell rang to begin classes on Friday, one student came into his office to get directions to detention after school.

By the time school started, he had a short line waiting outside his office.

Beckwith, 33, and his wife of 11 years, Paige, moved to Carson City from Las Vegas two years ago.

"My wife and I were looking for a smaller community," he said. "We were looking for a place to raise our family and we wanted to stay out West."

He left his teaching job at Cheyenne High School, where he had been teaching for five years, to teach math at Carson High.

But he knew he eventually wanted to end up in administration.

"I think I always knew that was something I wanted," Beckwith said. "As soon as I started teaching, I went in to get my master's degree."

Beckwith began this year as intern dean of the high school but when the acting dean took a job as a principal in Reno last month, he took over the position.

"It's been even better than I expected," he said. "I've learned so much about what goes on at a high school behind the scenes."

In addition to his new duties as dean, Beckwith is also fulfilling his prior commitment as coach for the freshmen girls basketball team and the junior varsity softball team.

"I love coaching," he said. "I think it's so critical to see the kids outside of the classroom setting. You get to build relationships outside of student and teacher."

However, this will probably be his last year of coaching.

"Chances are, I will not coach anymore," he said. "I need to be at these events as an administrator."

Serving as an administrator and coach is also a drain on his time. But he said his duties pale in comparison to those of his wife, who takes care of their three daughters.

"My wife has the toughest job on the planet," he said. "She's a stay-at-home mom. She loves it, though. She's a wonderful mom."

The two met in 1987 as undergraduates at UNLV. They had a couple of classes together but the first time he really spoke with her was when he went to apply as sports editor of the college paper where she was a news writer.

"Obviously, I found her attractive," he said. "But it was more than that. I was comfortable with her."

On their first date, the two went to the movie, "Moonstruck."

"It was rather ironic because, after that night, I was," Beckwith said.

The two are now raising their three daughters ages 6, 3 and 8 months.

Beckwith said he is happy with the move to Carson City and the high school.

"It was a dramatic difference from Las Vegas," he said. "The students here are tremendous. Academically, they do really well and I'm very impressed with how they conduct themselves."