Robert and Eva Kidd’s fifth and youngest child, Bessie was the only Arizona-born member of the family. Her brother and sisters came from Ohio with her parents in the early 20th century. Her mother died when Bessie was ten, leaving Bessie and her sister Lucille to run her home.

Bessie graduated from the Northern Arizona Normal School in 1920 and received her teaching license in 1922. Her first teaching position was at Winslow.

On June 12, 1923, Bessie married Elif (Hugh) Best. Her father, who was a magistrate at the time, officiated the ceremony.

Since only men and single women were allowed into the teaching profession, Bessie was unable to teach as a married woman. However, rural schools were happy to recruit any teacher who lived in a sparse and isolated environment. Bessie accepted a position at a one-room school on the Apache Indian Reservation in White River, where she taught 40 children from first grade to her eighth grade.

Bessie, who shuttled between Arizona, where her husband worked, and California, and gave birth to a son, Robert Huge Best, in 1927, continued teaching until the post of Superintendent of Coconino County became vacant in 1928.

By this time, Bessie knew that her marriage had stalled (the couple divorced in 1930) and that she would have to find a more stable job. At the urging of her friends, she decided to run for her superintendent.

Bessie borrowed the family’s car and began exploring the 18,623-square-mile school district area, the second-largest county in the nation. She learned to steer rough, rutted roads through the dry, barren desert. She often wonders where she is in the world, going up and down mountain trails, walking logging trails that meander through forests, sometimes getting lost, and walking deep in canyons. bottom. Although the furthest school in the district was over 320 miles from Flagstaff, she was determined to visit every school in the county.

She also honed her automotive skills in these bumpy adventures and learned how to fix whatever the car broke or fell off. Using a good amount of fence line usually solves the problem. She was able to change a tire within minutes, and the water bottles she carried usually quenched her car’s thirst rather than her own.

No one was more surprised than Bessie when she won the election.

Starting her new job on January 1, 1929, Bessie worked in Coconino County’s 19 one-teacher schools, four two-teacher schools, two four-teacher schools, and the only school of significant size. oversaw large schools in two communities of Flagstaff and Williams.

Some schools opened from March to November and others from September to May because of the climatic conditions in northern Arizona, and Bessie continued to attend year-round. She estimated that she traveled 10,000 miles a year.

Many of the schools in her district were small, one-room buildings and not very well built. The classrooms were heated by pot-bellied stoves, the toilets were on footpaths, and drinking water was drawn from the nearest source.

At times Bessie wondered where her school had gone, as the school at the logging site was usually in a boxcar and could be moved to the siding as the loggers moved. In her first annual report on her school district’s operations, she described one of the boxcar schools as “moving around with the camp.” There are many participants and the inside of the car is very crowded. We expect another teacher and another car to be added this year. ”

The post of school superintendent was for two years. Bessie ran for his second term in 1930 and continued to serve Coconino County for over 40 years thereafter, often unopposed and running on both sides of the election. Still, despite the absence of her opponents, she campaigned, “because I want people to know that I appreciate this office,” she said.

Her own educational goals continued to progress, earning her Bachelor’s degree in 1935 and her Master’s degree in 1948 from Flagstaff Normal School (now Northern Arizona University).

Her main concern, however, was the education of students within the district. She was always on the lookout for good teachers who would brave the wilderness to educate their children with their limited resources. Some of these small communities did not have libraries, but she was instrumental in opening up the county library system to rural schools.

In 1941, Bessie was appointed to the Advisory Board of the Statewide School Lunch Program. She helped several schools get running water, and eventually toilet facilities were added. When school buses began to appear in school districts, she installed a two-way radio system between bus drivers and the U.S. Forest Service, allowing her and her students to rescue stranded buses in bad weather.

Bessie also oversaw the county’s spelling bee program. “The first event was very nerve-wracking,” she said. “I felt really sorry for the kids. Every time I spelled a word wrong, I almost cried. I wanted them all to win.”

Bessie proudly boasts that she has known every Arizona governor since she was inaugurated, and has worked closely with prominent figures such as Senators Karl Hayden and Barry Goldwater to accompany their political campaigns. There were many She also met with government officials in Washington, DC to raise funds for underfunded schools.

Bessie retired in 1973 and continued serving the community until her death on August 3, 1983. She is buried in Flagstaff Municipal Cemetery.

Over the years, Bessie has known three generations of families in her jurisdiction.

One reporter saw her interacting with students and said: Best gathered her children around her and told her story in a high-pitched, somewhat nasal voice. They were mesmerized by this grandma-like bespectacled woman in a brightly colored dress, and apparently instantly fell in love. ”

But Bessie will be the first to say it wasn’t her efforts that made the difference at Flagstaff school. “Good schools are not built by people working together,” she said.