Othello teacher hates last day of school

OTHELLO - Lisa Davis hates the last day of school.

"It's just the emotional part for me," the fifth-grade teacher at Scootney Springs Elementary said.

She just joined Scootney Springs this year, but at Lutacaga Elementary, the staff would have an end-of-the-year barbecue on the last day of school each year.

"I would go and everybody seemed so happy," Davis said. "I'd wear the (sunglasses to cover tears) all day and I'm sobbing, just blowing my nose and tears all day long. I'm just almost distraught. I just come to love the kids I teach. I love them and I think about them for weeks after school and it's always just an emotionally wrenching experience when it's time to say goodbye, because it will never be the same after that. I do, I hate it. I hate the end of school."

One thing Davis does is write a letter to the children she will be teaching the next year.

"A lot of teachers do that, but I guess I've always thought, 'I have anxiety at the end of the year,'" she said. "And I think kids do too, that they've been comfortable with teachers and all of a sudden, oh my goodness, they're going to a new grade, new teachers."

So Davis tries to send a letter out to her new class within several weeks of the last day of school.

"I usually give a little picture of me and a little bit about me, and I always encourage them to write letters back and forth, and many do," Davis said. "The first day of school, I may not know them very well, but they'll come up and say, 'I remember, you told me you went to Disneyland,' and automatically we have something going and it just helps make it a little easier for them to transition. And you know what? Easier for me, too. As much as I miss the kids from the year before, I'm excited to get to know the new ones."

Davis and her husband Dan, who teaches physical education in Royal City, have lived in Othello for 13 years, moving from White Pass.

"It was time for a move, we liked the area and it was close to Central Washington University, and I had about a year to go with my degree, so that made it nice," Davis said. "I just commuted for that last year."

Growing up in Issaquah, Davis met her husband, a Connell native, at a church college in Idaho. The Davises have been married 24 years and have three sons: Chad, 23, who is married to Chelsea; Nathan, 22 and Parker, 16.

Davis has been teaching for 11 years, and moved from Lutacaga Elementary after 10 years of teaching the third and fourth grades to teaching fifth grade at Scootney Springs this year.

"Loved it, loved the staff, loved the kids," Davis said of Lutacaga.

But she thought it might be time to make a switch.

"It just felt right," she said. "I didn't even really think about moving to fifth grade until I saw there was an opening up on the board and I walked by it and I thought, 'Fifth grade. I should give that a try.' I like the variety, I've decided. It's just been kind of nice to move up and see the different things the kids can do, I like the different curriculums. It's been interesting. They're still delightful, you can joke with them and have a fun relationship with them."

The move to Scootney Springs has been without a down side, Davis added.

"I left a good team, but came to a good team, so that made all the difference," she said.

Hobby-wise, Davis loves anything to do with water. She likes whitewater rafting, swimming and does some surfing. She loves to read, ride with her bicycling-enthusiast husband and listen to music. She taught piano lessons before she began teaching in school and in the last few years, has discovered she likes to just sit down with her family and watch a movie. She is also participating in the Othello Community Theater production of "The Sound of Music."

She hates to cook and is afraid of snakes.

Davis believes people need to be positive and cheerful.

"I guess I just think people should love life, make the most of it and be positive," she said. "So many people, it just seems like they walk around with a frown on their face and their shoulders slumped, and I just want to say 'Buck up.' We live in a great country and we have great things going on here."

Lutcaga Elementary teacher Amy Harwood met Davis through teaching in summer school rooms together.

"Without a doubt, the best person I know," she said. "Fantastic teacher, even better person. Very kind-hearted. She would bend over backwards for anyone. She opens her heart and her mind to everyone. People's lives are changed for the better if they know Lisa."

Davis was Kelli Mays' mentor in her first year of teaching three years ago, and taught fourth grade alongside Mays last year.

"She just has excellent repertoire with the kids, she's fun, she's the most caring person I've ever met," Mays said. "I think, first and foremost, she is there for her students and her co-workers. She will do anything to go out of her way to make them feel special. She just has a bright smile that makes your day better."

Charee Gilbert works alongside Davis at Scootney Springs as a fellow fifth-grade teacher, and also knows her through church activities.

"She is just always positive and thoughtful," Gilbert said. "She goes above and beyond in everything she does, whether it's school, church or on a friendship level too. There's been several times this year where she has offered to do things for me, whether it's baby-sit my son or take my duties for recess duty. She does things like that all the time."

Earlier this year, Davis received the Othello Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year Award for kindergarten through the sixth grade.

"Every teacher deserves that chance to shine and I certainly don't feel I deserve it over anyone else," Davis said. "It just shows that a regular person like me - really, I just consider myself very regular, but yet very passionate. I'm very passionate about teaching and wanting kids to feel good about themselves. If somebody wants to give me an award for that, then that's OK. Then that makes me feel good."