A lunch a day for a year might not seem like much to some, but
it made a world of difference to one Live Oak High School student
when teacher Mo Davies reached out to help him that way.
Morgan Hill – A lunch a day for a year might not seem like much to some, but it made a world of difference to one Live Oak High School student when teacher Mo Davies reached out to help him that way.
Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers President Donna Foster said the 59-year-old Davies has helped countless teenagers besides this student over the years, one of the reasons why the Santa Clara County Office of Education has recognized her as one of the area’s top educators.
Davies noticed the student was irritable in class, not participating very much. She believed something was bothering him.
“Instead of getting angry, writing a referral or tossing him out of the class, she pressed a little harder until she found out what was wrong,” Foster said.
The mother of two learned the student had been kicked out of his home, was working to make money to rent a room so he was tired, and most of his money went to pay for the room, so he was hungry. Foster said that’s why Davies fed him, making enough food for her pupil so he would have enough for dinner.
The student graduated, Foster said, in part due to Davies’ support.
The students Davies has had in her classes over the years, Foster said, have sometimes been troubled teens.
“She truly has had a lot of at risk kids, some of them searching for a different direction, some who are a little bit lost,” she said. “Every kid, whether troubled or not, is better for spending an hour a day with Mo Davies.”
Teacher of the year
Caring and compassionate are two words frequently used to describe Davies, who seems almost embarrassed to have been singled out by her peers as Morgan Hill Unified School District’s “Teacher of the Year.”
Davies was recognized at a reception and ceremony with 29 other teachers for the honor at the Heritage Theater in Campbell last night.
The ceremony is a part of the Santa Clara County Office of Education annual teacher recognition program.
The Live Oak High veteran, who’s been in the classroom since September of 1970, prefers to talk about her students or the preschool program she created on the Live Oak campus, saying she considers the award to honor a group of teachers.
“Awards like this usually go to academic teachers,” she said. “I’m proud to represent the vocational teachers.”
A vocation for teaching
It was while she was in high school, Davies said, that she was inspired to become a vocational teacher.
“I took one home ec class, and the teacher was young and enthusiastic, and I remember thinking, wow, I can make a career out of something I like,” she said.
Most of Davies’ long career in teaching has been in the classrooms at Live Oak High. After graduating from San Jose State University, she did her student teaching in Fremont. Living in San Jose, she wanted to be closer to home, and Morgan Hill “had a good reputation,” she said, and she was hired to teach at Live Oak. She has taught a variety of applied arts classes, also known as vocational classes, over the years, but is probably most fond of her child development class.
Davies, who is excitedly awaiting the birth of her first grandchild in January, is enthusiastic about the campus preschool she started 25 years ago.
“It really grew naturally out of the child development class,” she said. “The students needed more experience (in working with children), and the preschool could give them that, plus fill a need in the community.”
The preschool is open two days a week during the first semester and three days per week during the second semester. There are 20 3-year-olds and 20 4-year-olds enrolled. Sixty Live Oak students enrolled in the class, called developmental psychology of children, run the preschool.
“Some of them are just curious, some have aspirations of working in education or aspirations of working in child development or some related field,” she said. “Some of the students are just looking for a course that’s less academic in nature.”
A strong work ethic
Staff members know Davies is someone they can turn to to get things done, Foster said.
“She’s the go-to gal around here,” she said. “She quietly goes about the art of teaching and making it happen for kids, and all the while, she is very supportive of the staff. She represents the best of all of us. She’s a doer, she’s the one who gets things done on every level.”
Live Oak Principal Nick Boden agreed with Foster, citing several ways she has “stepped up to the plate,” including taking a leadership role in the school’s recent Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation process. WASC is one of six official academic bodies responsible for the accreditation of public and private universities, colleges, secondary and elementary schools in the United States and foreign institutions of American origin.
Davies, the eldest of three daughters, said she probably learned her work ethic from her parents.
“I was the first person in my immediate family to attend college,” she said. “My father immigrated from the Philippines when he was young, and he went from working in the fields to starting a business. My mom was from Arkansas. She and my father were hard workers. I literally grew up in the back of the family grocery store.”
Because her parents were working to start up the business, Davies said, she changed schools a lot. She went to four different high schools, she said, including her freshman year at Live Oak. She met her husband of 38 years, Phil, at Overfelt High in San Jose. They have two grown children, a son and a daughter.
