Becky Schuler knows what it feels like to be called home. She graduated from Salem in 1991, taught in Olney for three years, and wasn't looking for a new job when Mr. Cavaletto tracked her down the week before school started. A math position had opened. Would she come back?

Twenty-eight years later, she's here — teaching every level of math from pre-algebra to AP Calculus, and carrying Salem's math dual credit program on her shoulders. With the retirement of Tanja Meyer two years ago, she's the only teacher in the math department credentialed to teach dual-credit math courses, which means every dual credit math class at Salem Community High School — Honors Algebra 2, Honors Trigonometry, Pre-Calculus, Statistics, and AP Calculus  — flows through her classroom.

Her students feel the weight of that. They know the expectations are higher  and the accountability real. Becky doesn't shy away from it. "It's a college class," she tells them plainly. The syllabus mirrors what they'd receive on a college campus. And when the semester ends, the credit they earn is the real thing — transferable to four-year universities, to Kaskaskia College; to most anywhere they're heading next.

No matter the level of math taught, what Becky sees most clearly isn't the rigor. It's the doubt. "So many of them are quick to give up on themselves and not believe in themselves," she says. "They're capable, they just don't trust themselves that they are capable yet."

That's the shift she works for. Students walk into class, dual credit or not,  thinking it will overwhelm them, only to discover they have more ability — and more resilience — than they realized. Some become the first in their family to succeed in college. Others shave semesters off their degree path. A few discovered fields they didn't even know they loved. But all of them learn the same essential truth: they can do math and college-level work.

In a community where many families may not have the resources to start college on a confident footing, dual credit in math and other subjects becomes more than an academic option. With dual credit offerings in science, English, Health Occupations, business, family and consumer science, Spanish, history, and vocational education, Salem Community High School students have the opportunity to get a jumpstart on their future.  Dual credit opportunities  become an equalizer. "We're talking thousands of dollars," Becky says when asked about savings. Five thousand? "Oh, yeah, easy. More than that, even." Electric and groceries level money — real money that matters deeply to real families.

And Salem offers something most schools don't: both AP programming and dual credit. With both AP Calculus and AP Computer Science Principles, while other high schools pick one lane, Salem gives students both paths forward. A student aiming for MIT can take the AP exam. A student heading to a state school can bank the dual credit. The choice is theirs.

The partnership Becky and the other dual credit teachers have with Kaskaskia College keeps the bridge strong. They follow KC's objectives and administer their exams. The result is unusually powerful: college courses taught right inside Salem Community High School by  teachers who know their students personally and guide them with a steady hand through work that will shape their futures.

There's something else worth noting: the math department is five teachers strong, and every one of them is a woman. In a field that has long been male-dominated, that's quietly powerful. Becky doesn't make a fuss about it, but there's a flicker of pride when she says it.

She's been doing this work for 31 years — 28 of them at Salem. She has two and a half years until retirement. "You're gonna leave a hole," someone tells her. She shrugs it off, but the truth is undeniable.

Becky Schuler didn't stumble into teaching. As a little girl, she set up her stuffed animals and dolls to play school. "I feel like this is what I was put on this earth to do," she says. And for nearly three decades at Salem, she's done exactly that.

Where the future starts sooner, possibility arrives early — and confidence arrives right on time.