Panther Spotlight 2: Jerry Davenport & Cherie Harless

Cabot Public Schools is proud to present, “Panther Spotlight.” This new feature puts the spotlight on faculty and staff that are making a difference in the lives of our students every day. Throughout the school year, we’ll recognize one outstanding certified and one outstanding classified employee. This week, “Panther Spotlight” is proud to recognize Cabot High School security guard, Jerry Davenport and Cabot Learning Academy special education teacher, Cherie L. Harless. Name: Jerry Davenport Title: Security Guard How many years have you been working security? I have been working with security for 2 1/2 years. How many years have you been at the Cabot School District? I have been with the school district for 2 1/2 years. What did you do before working in security? I spent 45 years in the retail grocery business. What do you love about your job? I love being outside, having the weekends off, and holidays! What do you like about working at the high school? I like being around the students. Please share a favorite memory or memorable moment in your career? I was inducted into the Harps “Hall of Fame” winning "Store Manager of the Year" five times. Anything else you would like to add? I feel so honored to work with the staff at the high school and I appreciate my fellow co-workers for all the things they have showed me about the security job. What is a motto or saying you live by? Be kind, respectful, and considerate to others in all situations. If there is one thing I learned in my retail career, it was how to handle difficult situations. What is a fun fact you’d like to share? I like to have fun and laugh! I really enjoy playing jokes on my co-workers . . . ask Mr. Hawkins about his cup of coffee. What is something someone would be surprised to know about you? I spent 8 years in the army national guard as a cook. Henry Hawkins, CHS Principal: “Jerry is an awesome security monitor for CHS! He loves the kids, wants to always help them, and the kids love him. He also has a knack for doing little things to help make CHS better. He is one of the #BestofCHS! Brad Tarvin, CHS Assistant Principal: “What a great asset to CHS!!! Mr. Davenport is always willing to do the anything and everything to help out students and faculty members.” Name: Cherie L. Harless Title: CLA 9-12 Special Education Teacher How many years have you been teaching? I have been in the education field since 2008, but have been teaching for close to 8 years. I have been teaching self-contained behavior classrooms since 2010. I taught at Center’s for Youth and Families Residential and Day Treatment programs for 6 years. How long have you been with the Cabot School District? I’ve been with the school district 2 years. Why did you get into this field? Personal struggles growing up and having a family member that has special needs. I struggled emotionally and educationally as a child at home and while in school. I was bullied, and I struggled academically. I have an aunt and uncle that are both intellectually disabled, so to me, being different was normal. I never understood why other people didn’t understand them, why they were mean to them, or why they treated them so differently. I believe that these personal struggles help me see how/why students struggle, and helps me relate to how my kids in the classroom feel. What do you love about your job? My kids! I love helping my kids. I love being able to help them grow emotionally/academically, and helping them realize that they have potential. I love the look on my kid’s faces when they accomplish something and start to believe that there is nothing they can’t do, even if others have told them they can’t. What do you like about working at CLA? The support I get from my co-workers and administration. I am very lucky to be able to work with such an amazing team. The staff at CLA is like a big family. Please share a favorite memory or memorable moment in your career? I have so many memorable moments that it’s hard to account for all of them. But, when my kids write me notes telling me thank you, how much they appreciate what I do, or when they make me something at home just because they wanted to say thank you, those are memories that stay with you forever. Just today, one of my students wrote me a letter and brought me an angel statue, “I appreciate all the things you do for me and helping me to be a better person.” Those are moments teachers live for. Anything else you would like to add? I would love for others to know exactly what CLA is. A lot of people in the district don’t know about CLA, or who/what CLA is. When I tell people that I work at CLA, either they ask, “What is CLA?”, or “Oh goodness, you must be a really special person to work there.” Yes, it’s true that we help those students who demonstrate severe emotional and/or behavioral discrepancies from that of their educational peers, but deep down, my kids are really good kids, they just have behaviors (from time-to-time) that are inappropriate. My kids just need someone who is willing to help them, work with them, who believes in them, loves them unconditionally (no matter what they do), and someone who keeps pushing them forward. What is a motto or saying you live by? I always tell my kids “I believe in you more than you believe in yourself.” I think we all need to tell our kids that, we need to help them understand that they can be anything they want to be, it might be hard, but they can do it. What is a fun fact you’d like to share? I always like to end the week on a positive note, making Friday fun, so we do fun little experiments in the classroom every Friday. These are not elaborate experiments in a science lab, most of the time it’s things I find around my house that will serve the purpose, or things I just go buy, but no matter what it is, the kids really enjoy it. They take what they learn in class throughout the week and create something, bringing Science to life, and they usually have a lot of fun! What is something someone would be surprised to know about you? I love Hello Kitty! Joanne Blalock, CLA Principal: “When students meet Mrs. Harless for the first time, they know within minutes how much she cares about them.” Congratulations Mrs. Harless and Mr. Davenport on being featured in this week’s Panther Spotlight! Your hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed.

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PANTHER SPOTLIGHT 2: JERRY DAVENPORT & CHERIE HARLESS

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Cabot Public School | 9/15/2017

PHOTO CREDIT: Cabot High School