Birdie was a member of the first class to graduate from the Sterling Coloma High School built on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Fifth Street. She was born to be a teacher, and after graduating from DeKalb State Teachers College in 1901, she began her career at Thome School in Rock Falls. Later she would teach at Central School in Sterling.In 1905 she married Dr. C. M. Frye. When not teaching in the public schools, she conducted a Montessori kindergarten in her home, using the Maria Montessori teaching tools and methods. She was a pioneer in many ways, starting the first Sunday School as the Christian Church and bobbing her hair in 1924. At a time when very few people vacationed beyond the borders of their own state, she traveled from coast to coast. Her teenage son, Vernon, was her driver. On extended trips to Daytona Beach and Los Angeles she opened kindergarten classes in her home. Mrs. Frye was a forerunner to today’s woman—well-educated, a successful wife, mother of four and teacher.