Educator of the Week: Eliesse Davis

It’s time now to recognize our Educator of the Week, brought to you by the Tennessee Education Lottery.

Eliesse Davis is a 7th grade social studies teacher at Jackson Careers and Technology School.

“As a kid, I always taught my siblings and my mom’s friends, like, their kids, so I just felt like I should become a teacher because I love to, like, help them with their homework and things like that, just seeing their progress,” Davis said.

This is now her third year teaching.

Davis shares her favorite parts of being an educator.

“Seeing the progression in students,” she said. “And also getting students more interested in learning about history.”

When it comes to teaching styles, Davis takes an active approach.

“I am a kinesthetic learner myself, so I feel like it is important to be more hands-on with students, so, if I see a student that’s not, like, retaining information, I just try to like pull them to side and ask them if they want extra help or, you know, extra work just to get them a better understanding of the content that I’m going over.”

Davis took a moment to reflect on the age group of her students.

“I love teaching 7th grade because they are still babies, but they’re also trying to obtain their reality of being a person, so, just, being in the middle of them trying to get to that, I guess, young adulthood and still being, like, kid-ish, I like to see that transition because, just, even 7th grade to 8th grade is a huge jump of maturity for them.”

For future educators, Davis offers a word of advice.

“Just keep going. It gets easier day by day. It is tough at the beginning, at first, but just keep going.”

Davis is now eligible for the Tennessee Education Lottery Educator of the Month award.

To vote for her or any other nominees, go to the Tennessee Education Lottery website.

To nominate an educator for our Educator of the Week award, email us at educator@wbbjtv.com.