During his time at Caughman Road, Davis recalled working one on one with a student who was only going to school for less than three hours every day.
“Within a month, the student went from going back home at 9:30 a.m. to staying the entire day, and I did that,” he said.
Davis moved to Meadowfield Elementary School in 2004, where he started off as the ISS monitor. Davis doubled as ISS monitor and therapeutic assistant the following year before becoming Meadowfield’s therapeutic assistant full time.
After 14 years at Meadowfield, Davis became the therapeutic assistant at South Kilbourne Elementary School in 2018. Two years later, Davis became Horrell Hill Elementary School’s therapeutic assistant.
“Horrell Hill has such a family atmosphere. The environment has such a warm and gravitating feeling to where
you want to come in and make a difference,” he said.
Therapeutic assistants help students who are dealing with emotional issues at school. Davis’ job is to work with students on ways they can control their emotions. One of the key ways Davis helps his students is by communicating with their parents about the strategies and techniques they can use when their child is home.
“You really got to get the parents on board. If we’re disciplining their child at school, but when the child comes home and there’s no discipline, then that’s not going to work. If everybody is on the same page, it works,” he said.
One resource Davis uses to help students control their emotions is Milo, one of the RoboKind robots available at all Richland One elementary schools. The robots help students work on their socialemotional learning skills.
“The robot helps with so many ways of communication. It talks about hygiene, mannerisms and different ways to channel your behaviors and techniques if you’re feeling upset. The district’s investment in the robots has been a success for us at Horrell Hill,” said Davis.
When students with emotional issues are allowed to return to their general education classes, Davis makes sure the transition is smooth for the students and their teachers. He’ll sit in the students’ classes before stepping outside to observe their behavior, reminding his students about the lessons they learned about controlling their emotions.
“This gives the students that feeling that they trust me. They’ll have a few moments, but you’ve just got to continue to build the trust that they work in the classroom by themselves and believe in themselves,” said Davis.
Outside of school, Davis is a professional drummer. His love for drumming came in handy when he helped form Horrell Hill’s co-ed drumline in 2023 and all-girls drumline in 2024. The drumlines are part of Horrell Hill’s comprehensive remediation program. The students performed during the program’s end-of-theyear showcases in 2023 and 2024, as well as Horrell Hill’s Christmas cantata and honor roll assembly. Davis treats the students in the drumlines just like his football players.
“The students in the drumlines know the only way they can stay in is if their grades and behavior are on point. If they’re not, they can’t be there,” he said.
When Davis was named the Classified Employee of the Year, the two people he thought of were his mother and his wife, Angalese, who passed away from cancer in 2017.
“My mama was always the type who said ‘Don’t ever look to be validated or look for an award to say that’s what you’re doing. Let the work speak for you.’ My wife would say the same thing. I took what they said as if God put me here to do what I need to do,” he said.
