Mrs Betty Gyllstrom attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, where she received her BA degree in secondary education; majored in biology and a minor in math   She originally had planned to major in mathematics, but a biology course proved so enjoyable that she changed her major to biology.
"I find the more I teach it the more I like it, and I like it because you can do 'hands-on' things," she explained.  "You know - it's not just paper and pencil.  And kids can get excited about doing some of these 'hands-on' things."
Graduate courses were taken at Xavier, Iowa State and Concordia University.
She taught 8th grade science for 2 years at Washington Junior High in Dubuque, Iowa, was the Math Learning Center Coordinator at Hempstead High School in Dubuque for 1 year; part of the 7th grade science/math team for 5 years at Ames Middle School; and 12 years at St Paul Lutheran teaching 7th grade and science for the upper grades.