Stikine teacher wins statewide recognition

Students and teachers feted Bob Davis's Teacher of Excellence Award Friday with pizza, a short break from classes at the end of the day, and an error-riddled sign.

The errors were intentional, a loving tweak of pet-peeve grammatical errors Davis has reminded students about countless times over his years as a middle school English teacher.

"They're the ones I would harp at," he said, chuckling.

Davis is in his 20th year as a teacher at Stikine. Teaching emerged as a career path after a long time as a student, Davis said.

"I was six years at college, and my advisor came in and said 'Davis, you gotta quit sometime,'" he said. "I like dealing with kids. I like dealing with history and English."

Beyond the recognition comes a monetary reward. Davis received a $500 gift certificate for himself, and an additional $500 donation was given to the school. Like any prudent educator, he has plans for that money.

"They pop for the pizza party for the kids, but they also gave some money for the kids," he said. "It's kind of nice because I have some ideas for next year, and it was gonna cost some money. I was going to do a creative writing class and that was gonna cost, and it looks like this is gonna cover it. I wanted to do a little extra on top of that, so this will help fund that."

Last year, the community and the Chamber of Commerce recognized Davis as an outstanding teacher, though Davis is careful to redirect some, if not all, of the praise to Wrangell School District staff and the community.

"I hope people realize when you have a group of kids like we have, and a staff that we have, colleagues like I have, an administration that is very supportive, it's pretty easy to do a good job when you have those things in place," he said. "We have it all in place."

The manner of delivering the news last week continued a longstanding tradition of puckish tricks played between Davis and Stikine Principal Monty Buness. Davis reported to what he thought would be a serious meeting between himself and a parent, only to discover he'd been set up for a surprise recognition.

"I was expecting a parent meeting, and I came in and the whole staff was there," he said. "They had cake, so it was kind of nice."

The award belongs not just to him, but to the whole school, Davis said.

"I really appreciate the teachers, the students, and the support," he said. "The longer I'm in this game, the more I realize it's a group effort. People seem to think that teachers are locked into their classroom by themselves and whatever happens happens there, but that's not the case. It's more of a group effort, and good students create good teachers."

"It's not the other way around," he added.

The BP Teachers of Excellence Program collects nominations for outstanding teachers from around Alaska, and names a Teacher of the Year. In all, 33 teachers from various districts received the recognition, including Teacher of the Year Fred McKenney of Colony High School in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.

The program started in 1995.

The program will start taking 2015 Teachers of Excellence nominations in December.