District 54 teacher fosters warmth, trust
Third- and fourth-grade students filter into their classroom and Deb Davis greets them at the door with a smile and excitement for the day.
The energy is contagious as students unpack their backpacks and get their pencils sharpened.
Davis has been teaching at Elizabeth Blackwell Elementary School in Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 for 29 years, and this year she teachers a multi-grade class of third- and fourth-graders.
She's become a teacher known for making her students feel encouraged and for taking other teachers under her wing and helping them in any way she can.
Davis' classroom walls are covered in her students' works and signs that remind the kids they're awesome.
"We have such a diverse population, and the kids are coming from homes that have one parent, or both parents are working," Davis said. "My focus every year is to make the room a comfortable and a happy place - their safe place."
Davis says in order to do that, the kids have to feel they can contribute to the classroom and she has to approach them at their level.
"I still watch cartoons and things like that just so I know how to relate with them," she said.
Davis is often physically at the level of her students as well.
On the first Friday in December, Davis assigns her class a math lesson to work on in pairs and list factors of different numbers. After a few minutes of discussion and work, Davis sits among her students, blending in and offering assistance when it is needed.
This is something she's always incorporated into her teaching style.
"My knees are proof of that," Davis said. "You have to be at eye-level with the kids. You don't want to be the horrible person that's constantly looking down - they don't want that; they don't need that."
Each time Davis asks students to factor a different number, arms shoot up and their hands flutter; they're eager to offer up their answer, and equally excited to impress Davis.
Throughout the day, students transition from sitting on the floor to working collaboratively at six-person tables.
Davis doesn't have a desk.
"I just found I never sat at it and it just accumulated stuff," Davis said. "Kids were always going through the drawers trying to find stuff, so I keep everything in the open and they know where the stuff is, and what they're not allowed to have, I keep in the closet."
It's that transparency and openness that leads to the strong mutual respect between Davis and her students, she says.
Davis' entire teaching career has been at Blackwell, going back to her college days. While working on her education degree at Eastern Illinois University, she got her student teaching field experience at the school.
Over the years, Davis, who lives in Bartlett, has taught second- through sixth-graders. She says her favorite grade to teach is always whatever she's teaching at that moment. Two of her fellow teachers at the school once were students in her classroom.
Blackwell Principal Brad Carter says it's important to have a teacher like Davis, who has not only been a constant in the school for decades, but who fosters trust and builds relationships with students throughout the building.
"I've noticed when she has door duty, she greets kids in the morning giving them high-fives and welcoming them into the building," Carter said.
Blackwell Literacy Coach Kerry Campbell used to work alongside Davis as a teacher, and has worked in the same building as her for 18 years. She says all of the extra steps Davis takes to make sure her students and colleagues succeed make her a standout teacher.
"She is the true picture of what it means to want the kids to be successful," Campbell said. "And she really takes on that mentor role. Even if you don't ask for help, she'll ask you if you need anything."
There was a time, Campbell says, when Davis found out one student's family didn't have any furniture in their home. She led efforts to get the family furniture.
And while Davis dedicates her time during school hours to students and colleagues, she also makes time to work with two after-school programs. One of them is the FUSE program, run in conjunction with Northwestern University.
It meets Tuesdays and gives fifth- and sixth-graders an opportunity to work on science, technology, engineering, arts/design and mathematics projects. One student is designing a house, while another is making his own key chain, Davis says.
"A couple kids in the FUSE program are really quiet, but you see them in this after-school program and you see an entirely different side of them, and they're so engaged," Davis said.
Curriculum vitae
Name: Deb Davis
Town: Bartlett
Job: Multi-age teacher at Blackwell Elementary School in Schaumburg
Education: Bachelor's from Eastern Illinois University, master's from National Louis University
Work experience: In 29 years, Davis has taught grades two through six, and served as the school's library media teacher