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Who was Amy Beverland? A history lesson

Posted at 7:59 AM, Feb 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-05 07:59:05-05

INDIANAPOLIS -- With recent pushes to rename Amy Beverland Elementary after principal Susan Jordan, questions have come up over the history of the school -- specifically "Who was Amy Beverland?"

A third-grade teacher at the school, Deborah Lee Thie, helped to answer those questions with some information on how exactly the school got its current name. 

When construction began on the school in 1988, the school board members in Lawrence Township said the new school had to be named after a teacher to honor them.

One man, John Brill, who oversaw the construction or renovation of every school building in Lawrence Township to date, suggested to have the school named after his first-grade teacher at Oaklandon Elementary School.

He said, "Amy Beverland has always deserved to have a school named in her honor. She was an outstanding teacher."

After the naming process finished, the school was named Amy Beverland Elementary School. Brill died weeks after the new name was announced.

Beverland was educated and spent most of her life in Indianapolis. 

She taught in Lawrence Township schools from 1921-1966. She taught at many different schools, including Oaklandon Elementary School, Fortview Elementary School (which is now Belzer Middle School) and Indian Creek Elementary School.

She died in 1986, having never married. She bequeathed scholarship money for graduates of Lawrence Township Schools. 

Amy Beverland Elementary has many artifacts, such as books, photographs, a paycheck stub and a woven blanket.

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