Everett Davis, an assistant principal at Montgomery Village Middle School, was selected as the State Assistant Principal of the Year for 2013. Davis is a 13-year veteran of Montgomery County Public Schools and was a student in MCPS himself. He started as a Spanish teacher at Northwest High School in Germantown.
How did you get your start as a teacher?
My dream was always to be a pilot — I had no intention of going into education. It never really entered my mind, to be quite honest. … My [high school] Spanish teacher encouraged me to take Spanish courses in college, and I missed being in Spanish, so I took those as electives. … When things didn’t work out with business school [in college], I could no longer afford to be out-of-state at college. I passed my Spanish electives, and I student-taught in Montgomery County.
What was one of your favorite experiences as a teacher?
I studied abroad in Spain [in college], and I actually got to take my students back to Spain and visit the same Spanish family I had lived with. Talk about bringing my experience full circle — that was always my goal as an educator: to bring Spanish beyond the classroom.
What is rewarding about being a teacher?
Seeing students once they’ve graduated and seeing them go on to whatever it is they choose to do — whether it’s move to a different location, go to college, whether they have their own families — that is probably the best.
What makes you unique as a teacher?
I don’t know that I am really reinventing the wheel — I’m constantly looking for what has been tried, what has been effective and relying on my colleagues. … I recognize the saying “it takes a village to raise a child,” and that really resonates with me. It’s not just the teachers or the parents; there are so many other supports that lead to a student’s success.
