By Arlynn Del Cid
Eisenhower has incredible and amazing teachers all of which can have a tremendous impact on all of us while we are here. Our teacher spotlight for today is Mr. Davis, the history Davis because we were blessed to have two incredible teachers with the same last name teach at our school. Mr. Davis is a phenomenal teacher. A lot of people would say this about most teachers, most of the time just to throw it out there and not actually mean it. For one, I believe, he is truly an outstanding and amazing teacher who cares very deeply about his students. Mr. Davis is currently 32 years old and was raised in Fontana, California. One of the things that he did in both high school and college was play football. A.B. Miller is in Fontana, which is where our incredible teacher attended high school. When asked about how he would characterize himself in high school he responded with “a bad student” Mr. Davis recalled getting straight F’s, 26 referrals freshman year, about 10 more referrals his sophomore year, and barely graduating with a 2.0 GPA. If you are or have been lucky enough to have him as a teacher you would actually hear a lot about his childhood experiences. One of the stories that I remember is that he is very grateful for the principal that he had in high school and for being able to graduate because he was a big sports fan. As we recall Mr. Davis played football throughout high school and his principal cared a lot for his athletes. Apart from being involved in football Mr. Davis was also involved in track and the Black Student Union. While he definitely enjoyed the roller coaster of high school he also loved watching the Fresh Prince of Bellaire and the Cosbys.
High school life comes to an end for all of us, a time where everyone leaves and takes their own path in life. For Mr. Davis he went into Chaffey College playing football for half a year. Then he went on to receive his teaching credential and Bachelors degree at Cornell University. During his time in college he said “I loved college, it was fun and I liked going out and meeting new people.” Besides playing football in college he also was part of the Black student Union just like in high school and refereed intermediate sports. Before attending Cornell and getting his teaching credential at a young age, Mr. Davis wanted to be a football player to travel and play with different teams, a college coach, or a police officer. As an adult he saw being a college coach or a police officer as another possible career option because he still had a passion for coaching. However, becoming a teacher was not in the planning until later on in college.
Today Mr. Davis has a wife with three beautiful children whom he loves very much and doesn’t know what he would do without them. We have been lucky enough to have him teaching History at Eisenhower for the four out of five years he has been working as an educator. When I asked him “What inspired you to become a teacher?” and “Why did you decide to teach History?” He responded by saying “I want to show people that there are a lot of other professions other than a rapper for example and besides that I love spending time with the students and showing them that if I can make it through all the obstacles they can too.” Now for the reason why he chose to teach history he said “I've always loved history and looking at it from a different perspective as well as diving deeper into my own history as an African American man as well as Hispanic history.” Not only is Mr. Davis a history teacher but he has also coached our football team, track team, and is the ambassador of the Black Student Union. As we know, Eisenhower has a Black student Union of which is student run, but the staff advisor is Mr. Davis. When asked if the club has evolved from when he was in high school he responded with “yes, the idea now is to try to start connections with African American students and have a space where they feel validated and important which is hard sometimes for them to find that space. The club makes students feel at home and we are also very college based.”
While asking Mr. Davis “What is the most rewarding part about your job?” He responded with “talking to the students and getting to know them and what they want to do out of school alongside their dreams and passions.” Although Mr. Davis loves his job there are a couple of things that he said he would like to change about it like, “teachers getting paid more for even deciding to take the role of a teacher” and “grading can become a hassle sometimes”. One of the things Mr. Davis finds frustrating about teaching is how students are afraid to speak out over what they believe in, to think outside of the box, and be creative. Mr. Davis wants us to know that he is very happy with what he has accomplished as a teacher and if he could leave his students with anything it would that “if I made it you can make it and make sure you are the greatest you possible, remember to always be you and to do the things you want and believe in.” Becoming a teacher was only one of many steps, but now that Mr. Davis has been a teacher for 5 years he has also learned a lot about himself. One of the things that he does to handle daily life stresses is self reflection which he’s really big on, as has said “I take a moment at night to see how I can come up with solutions and do better to address issues 10 minutes before bed” as well as listening to worship, guitar covers, and jazz music.
Last but not least I would like to mention that Mr. Davis will be hosting a festival in celebration of Hispanic Heritage month at Eisenhower high school on October 17th at 4pm. Feel free to bring family and friends and remember that there will be a Mariachi band, food like tacos to name some, as well as fun activities like Loteria, photo booth, and a dunk tank to name a few.