Born and raised in Massachusetts, Beck spent much of her time hiking through woods, creeks, and swamps, establishing a love of nature that continues to influence their present life and career. She holds a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Environmental Studies from Guilford College, and a M.Ed. in Science Curriculum and Instruction from UW. After serving two Americorps terms with EarthCorps, Beck's love of facilitating human connection with nature brought them to IslandWood's graduate residency program. Teaching at IslandWood sparked an even deeper interest with how humans learn, and while working as a resident teacher at University Child Development School, she became fascinated with observing students' intrinsically-motivated learning and the role the teacher plays in crafting the external environment. They taught at and then served as the Director at Nature Vision Preschool in Redmond, which became a laboratory of sorts, for tinkering with these curiosities. Beck moved from Seattle to northern Skagit with her spouse in 2019 and began working with a small community nonprofit leading nature hikes, and "just being outside" was all well and good. But being able to observe children through a year of growth, building community culture together, and experiencing the outdoor world as Classroom was an itch that just couldn't be scratched, so Beck is back to the lab-- the outdoor preschool!
Since moving up to Skagit, Beck has enjoyed gardening, birding from the porch, and eating copious amounts of local blueberries, bread, and cheese. Her favorite teachers growing up were Ms. Greenwood (8th grade biology), who asked Beck to chart their own path, and Mr. Lack (high school art), who gave space.