Valeriya Malgina
Guest Writer
February 27, 2024
Shamrock Hallway Talks - Students talk to Mr. Davis as he helps and gives them motivation.
Nicholas Davis shows his motivation and school spirit by being here for the kids and letting them come to him.
Mr. Davis was first introduced to the students of Westfield High School as a regular substitute in December of 2021 to help the school supervise classrooms when regular staff is out. After being so helpful with the students he became a full-time substitute, and also a staff member who judges Mr. Westfield and helps host more events. SHAMROCK HALLWAY TALK- Students talk to Mr. Davis as he
helps and gives them motivation.
“I live in Westfield and my daughter goes here now, I always wanted to be a teacher when I was growing up,” Mr. Davis said, “So I chose Westfield and then I got here and the kids are awesome. I got thrown into the staff team and they are pretty awesome too.”
Mr. Davis’s daughter, senior Taylor Davis said that she “always wanted to be a teacher's kid” which is another reason they moved to Westfield after Mr. Davis retired from the Navy.
“Seeing him get involved in school activities and other stuff like that makes me motivated to get into that stuff as well, “Taylor said. “After seeing him not care about what people think about him and how much the kids like him makes me not care either.”
Being both a dad and a teacher in the same school sometimes it's a tough choice on which you should be first in each event and activity, but the choice is easy. The students are WHS are his kids too.
When asked if he considered himself a good father, he responded, “I would hope so. I know I have my moments. And she knows that everything I’m doing is in her best interest, meaning it's not for me, I could care less. I've already lived.”
While helping his daughter he also has the role of helping other students in the school. For homecoming weeks, he goes all out for spirit days. By doing this, he gets other students excited to dress up and have spirit too. He wears extraordinary things with the help of Emily Hahn and Emma Riley, who are some teachers in the building who help him brainstorm outfit ideas based on the theme.
"He is as nice as he seems,” Ms. Hahn said. “He’s a hundred percent comfortable in his own skin. I have seen him get very, very upset just a few times but it was mostly provoked by disrespectful students or two or three. But overall he is exactly the same, inside and outside of Westfield High School.”
Mr. Davis is a mentor to the students in this building. Kids come to him for help, and he will gladly listen to them. Being able to go to someone in the building that you can trust is a major pillar that the school provides by having him as part of the staff. Mr. Davis being in the Navy took up a lot of his life after and taught him many things he is going to keep with himself forever that also help him be a good teacher and mentor.
"So in the Navy, I couldn't do stuff, like I can’t wear all of that crazy stuff. But what I learned a lot in there is how to listen,” Mr. Davis said. “Once you get a higher rank and you have juniors and all of that stuff you have to be able to listen to them even without talking sometimes, which goes back to me being able to listen and help the kids.”
Seeing Mr. Davis be in spirit and show up to football games to pump up the students, knowing that he is not just a teacher who's supervising the game but a mentor who wants to get hype with everyone is what makes students adore him. Motivation is a key anchor in many people's lives and being able to depend on someone like Mr. Davis.
"I know that if there's at least one person that can come talk to me, or whatever, without thinking they’re gonna be judged,” Mr. Davis said. “Then I know that I have made a good impact.”