RAPID CITY-Although she loves accounting, Linda Steward has found happiness as a teacher.

Seven years ago, Steward, 51, left her job as the chief financial officer for a Nevada hospital to become a teacher.

Instead of balancing accounts, Steward now juggles the short attention spans of her 26 fourth-graders as they study in the classroom or work in the Knollwood garden.

Steward, a native of Buffalo, earned a degree in business from Black Hills State University. She worked as a business manager for the Harding County School District before moving to Nevada.

At the time Steward moved, South Dakota did not have any programs encouraging people with college degrees to become teachers, but Nevada did.

Drawn by the desire to find a way to spend more time with her grown children and her family, which includes seven siblings, Steward was ready for a change.

"In the business world, it's hard to find any block of time," she said. Steward also did not like the constant conflict of the business world.

"With kids you don't have those games," Steward said. "They're just pure and natural and innocent."

For someone who loves working with children, teaching was a good career move so Steward took advantage of the program to switch careers.

"It was an 18-month, all graduate credit program," Steward said. She worked full-time and drove four hours one way to attend night classes.

"It was well worth it," she said.

After earning a secondary teaching certificate in business, she continued her studies to complete requirements for her elementary certification.

With fewer college graduates heading for careers in education, South Dakota is exploring programs to attract people from other professions into teaching, according to state secretary of education Rick Melmer.

The Rapid City School District and BHSU are collaborating on one such program called Project Select.

Steward taught high school business and middle school reading and English in Nevada before returning to South Dakota three years ago. Since then, she has taught at Knollwood.

Steward was recently named the Sam's Club Teacher of the Year. The award included a $1,000 grant for the school and a $100 gift card. As Knollwood's technology leader, Steward plans to use the money to add more equipment to the school's technology inventory.

Although she sacrificed a fulfilling and financially more rewarding career in business for less money and longer days, she's happy.

"This is more of who I am," Steward said. "I wouldn't go back."

Contact Andrea Cook at 394-8423 or andrea.cook@rapidcityjournal.com