Jess Davis Story

Harper’s Unsung Heroes December 2024 Written by Gale Fischer 

The Influence of a Teacher

“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.”

—-Brad Henry

As teachers, we have the opportunity every day to influence students and potentially create moments that can shape the trajectory of a child’s life. Although we are cognizant of this influence, we often are unaware of the ripple effect that we create as our students go forward and use their experiences in our classrooms to make a difference in our world. This month’s Unsung Hero, Jess Davis, has been the recipient of mentorship and guidance from an entire generation of teachers starting in her elementary school years and continuing through high school graduation. This special group of adults has fueled her love for learning while keeping her afloat during some tumultuous times in her childhood. 

Jess talks about her early years before she and her family settled down in the Cereal City. “I was born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1986. My older brother Joe was born in 1983 and my younger sister Jamie was born in 1987. My dad was in the Air Force and stationed in Omaha at the time of my birth. Dad was sent to Washington through the Air Force a few years later and we moved to Spokane when I was three years old.”

 A few years after taking up residence in Spokane, Jess and her family packed their bags and moved again. She reflects on this time in her life. “When I was five years old Dad retired from the Air Force. We moved to Battle Creek to be near his family. Initially, he worked out at Fort Custer in some of the manufacturing plants but later became an electronics teacher at the Career Center. He had a lot of experience in this field from his years working on planes in the Air Force. Mom worked at Waste Management when we moved to Battle Creek, eventually starting her lifelong position at Cook Jackson Contractors as office manager.”

Jess and her family moved to the Post edition when they first came to Battle Creek. She and her siblings attended school at Post Elementary. Jess reflects on some fond memories from this time.“When I attended Post Elementary there was a farm camp out at the Outdoor Education Center. We were bussed out a few times a week during the summer. I remember learning the basics of agriculture there, and I developed a love of gardening because of this. One of my favorite memories from farm camp was making marigold dip using marigold petals and cream cheese. It was delicious. I was amazed that this dip came from a flower.” Jess and her siblings lived in the same neighborhood as Post Elementary and walked to school each morning and back home at the end of the school day. She enjoyed this daily commute and vividly remembers the smells each morning coming from the cereal plants, an experience that is unique to children who live in Battle Creek. The farm camp each summer was something that fostered Jess’s love for hands-on learning but there was another factor that provided a pleasant educational experience for Jess at Post Elementary. “I had some phenomenal teachers from my days in elementary school, including Mrs. Strand, Mrs. Sharp, and Mrs. Downey,” Jess recalls. “I was blessed to have many inspiring teachers at Post, Harper Creek Middle School, and Harper Creek High School. I could fill an entire page listing all of them.”

Jess and her family moved from the Post Edition to the south side of Battle Creek as Jess made the shift from fourth to fifth grade. She gives some details about changing school districts. “Moving to Harper Creek was a tough transition at first but I soon grew to enjoy my new school district. One of my favorite memories was made with the peanut butter and jelly experiment in Mr. Sikora’s sixth-grade science classroom. Our assignment was to write directions for making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and then we would follow someone else’s directions word for word. It was always a disaster but so much fun.”  Just as she experienced in her elementary years at Post, Harper Creek also gave her some great memories with some phenomenal teachers. “I was lucky enough to have both Mr. and Mrs. Sikora as teachers. I always felt that each had great patience with me and helped to push me to get where I needed to be. All of my science teachers were phenomenal. Along with my dad’s experience with science and the instruction that I received from my science teachers, I developed a love for this discipline.” 

Although Jess developed a joy for school and for learning, her childhood years and time as a teenager were not always easy. She dealt with some things that tugged at her heart, creating confusion, anxiety, and stress. She reflects on these turbulent times in her life. “I experienced sexual trauma during my youth beginning in elementary school. I didn’t know how to handle this and kept it to myself.” As Jess entered her teen years the pressure created from the trauma seemed to intensify. “It shattered my confidence and when I was in high school it led to some poor decisions. I became shy and was always worried about making mistakes. I turned to drinking in high school and I was sexually assaulted at a party. Everything had built up. I lacked self-worth. I had developed a plan for suicide.” Some of the decisions that Jess made led to struggles in school, but she still loved school and was eager to learn. Her teachers wouldn’t allow her to fall between the cracks. Jess reflects on this. “My teachers refused to let me fail. Mr. Hicks is one example of this. He helped me dig out of a hole that I had fallen into for his math class.”

The mixed emotions that invaded Jess’ soul seemed to be spiraling out of control. Confusion and feelings of worthlessness were eating away at her from the inside out. Fortunately, the tide would change with a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Jess describes that although things were not perfect, the healing process was in the works. “Eventually, it got to a point where I felt God intervened. I started going to church again.” Positive changes were happening in Jess’s life but mental struggles also came with some of these changes. “This was also hard because I began to lose the connections that I had with my group of friends, who I partied and drank with. Eventually, I found new alliances from friendships I made at church.” 

The trauma that Jess dealt with as a child left scars during her crucial years of growth and development but there were also many fond memories and experiences that came with her childhood. Jess talks about these memories. “Although I struggled with things in high school one thing that helped me was getting involved in cheer. This gave me some confidence.” Jess also competed on the track team and was a member of the National Honor Society and Student Council in high school. 

Jess also enjoyed hanging out with her family as a child. “We did a lot of camping when I was a kid. I loved being outside and camping with my family was a great way to spend time outdoors. We also spent a lot of time together in other ways as a family. My brother Joe was a wrestler and so we spent a lot of time at the gym watching him compete and working in the concession stand. I also remember watching some of the classic TV shows from the 80s and 90s together as a family and eating popcorn.”  Beyond school activities and time spent with family, Jess also worked part-time at Binder Park Zoo for a decade during her high school and college years. This became a great outlet for her with the variety it provided for her. Her supervisor at Binder Park was more than just her employer. Jess describes the impact of this relationship. “My boss and eventual second mom, Vickie Taft helped me face a lot of the yucky stuff that I was dealing with in my life during the time that I worked at the zoo. She had this grace about her and counseled many more  than just me over the years.”

The trauma that Jess was exposed to as a child was truly unfortunate. Satisfying memories of learning in school and participating on the cheer team along with the time spent hanging out with family helped to numb some of the emotional pain, but Jess still struggled to fight her demons in isolation. Her faith eventually created the fork in the road that she desperately needed. Jess reflects on other interventions. “I received counseling as a teenager but this didn’t help because I really didn’t want to go but later in college I sought out counseling on my own. I feel I have healed but I always try to be self-aware and know when I need to get counseling.”

Jess had some great role models in all of her years as a student. These teachers may have been just ordinary men and women but they quietly went about their day providing guidance and support for all of their students. They made learning exciting for her and continually fed her hunger to learn. They may have lit a tiny spark for her future as a teacher. Jess reminisces about when she first thought that teaching might be something she’d like to do as an adult. “When I was in high school I cadet taught in first grade at Sonoma with Kris Gilbert and Holly Ryan. I loved this experience and it helped me realize  that I wanted to work with kids.”

Jess graduated from Harper Creek High School in 2004, and started college, staying close to home. She talks about her journey as a college student. “I started at Kellogg Community College in 2004 and then transferred to Spring Arbor College in 2007.” Jess graduated from Spring Arbor in 2010, earning a BA teaching degree with a Spanish certification for Kindergarten through eighth grade, a Kindergarten through fifth-grade self-contained certification, and certification to teach Middle School science.

Jess was now a recent college graduate, with a teaching degree. She was ready to throw her hat in the teaching ring. The landscape for teaching jobs was much different in 2010 than it is today. It seems that all districts are struggling to find enough teachers to fill their rosters now but at the time that Jess graduated from college, every available teaching assignment had a long list of applicants. Jess was fortunate to land a teaching job right out of college. She reflects on her job search as a recent college graduate. “Harper Creek had a Spanish teaching position opening at the Middle School for the 2010/2011 school year. I put in my application and was hired. I worked in this position for six years.” Jess then spent a year teaching fifth-grade science at Harper Creek Middle School before moving back to the Spanish department.  “I went to Wattles Park in 2017 to teach Spanish for one year and then back to the Middle School in 2018 to teach science. I have taught science at the Middle School since then.” For much of her time as an employee of Harper Creek, Jess’s job duties have gone beyond the classroom. She has spent the past ten years as the High School cheer coach. She has recently stepped down from this role with the arrival of a baby for her and her husband but hopes to return to coaching someday.

Jess's journey in becoming a mom wasn’t an easy one. It was filled with struggles but also an attitude of hope and never giving up. She discusses the details of marriage and parenthood. “I met Michael when I was nineteen while attending a college youth group outing. We later found out that my grandma and his grandma grew up together. We had many connections to each other before we officially met. We started dating six months later,  dated for a year, and broke up.” Although their status as a couple was put on hold Jess and Michael remained friends. “We decided to start dating again four years later, and we were married in 2012.”

After a year of marriage, Jess and Michael decided it was time to start a family but this would become a process filled with highs and lows. She describes the long road for her and Michael in becoming Mom and Dad. “We tried for a year and were unable to conceive.” They eventually explored other options after a year without a pregnancy. “We went through seven years of fertility treatment, but this didn’t seem to work. It appeared as though Invitro Fertilization (IVF) was the next option but after talking to our doctor we opted out of this. We were told that the success rate for us for IVF was minimal and our insurance would not cover it. The years of fertility treatment had been exhausting emotionally and physically. We decided to just take a break for a few years.” 

Jess had dreamt of adoption and motherhood since she was a teenager. With all they had been through, Michael opened up to the idea of adopting. Jess describes the next chapter in their journey.  “We met with an adoption agency and In 2020 we were set to adopt a newborn child. We prepared a baby room, but as the day to take the baby home approached the parents changed their minds. I understood their decision to keep their baby but this was still hard for us. It was our first real sign of hope to be parents but it didn’t work out.”

Having the adoption fall through was a setback for Jess and Michael. There was a period of mourning but then they quickly sought out another adoption. Jess talks about the next steps in their journey to become parents. “We were on a waitlist with an adoption agency for three years. We rarely heard from the agency. We were also licensed to foster in January of 2024. We hadn’t received a call yet to adopt so thought being foster parents would be a great option while waiting to adopt a child.” 

After years of waiting, their prayers were finally answered. “Valentine’s Day of 2024 we received a call that a newborn baby girl was waiting for her forever family. We met her nine days after she was born. She was born five weeks early. We stayed with her in the NICU for six days and then brought her home with us. We named her Eliana (meaning: my God has answered).” Eliana has been a blessing for Jess and Michael but there have been bumps along the path already traveled and more to come in the road ahead. “Being a premature baby, she is still behind in her development. Her health is fine and she is making progress with her development. She is a happy baby. We are still waiting on the official adoption. We are confident that this won’t be much longer. Eliana’s birth parents are African American and we realize there will be challenges for all of us in the future being two white parents raising a child of another race. We are hopeful that the makeup of our family will help to open more minds in the future. Eliana has brought much joy to Michael and me and our entire family. It has been a valuable experience. We are learning every day.”

In the grips of trauma, Jess has overcome many obstacles in her life. Her experiences are undeserved but this is life. The good and bad that she has faced in her life have given her the tools necessary to impact our students positively. These skills will also help her flourish as a mom. Her reflections on her journey and what she has learned are as follows. “How you get through tough times is important. Good can still exist. I have dealt with much trauma and have gotten through it because of my faith and also the support from friends, family, teachers, and community. Life is hard and sometimes you need to lean on others. I have learned that being open about some of the tough stuff can help others and provide encouragement seek professional help and continue with the healing process.”