Local educator dissects 3-decade teaching career

Scott Davis said he remembers a high school senior earning more working part time than he earned as a teacher. He also remembers coaching Hanford's teenagers in wrestling, football, soccer, cross country and pig dissection for more than three decades.

But in less than two weeks, Davis will hang up his "Flying Pig Diner" apron that he always tied on for dissections in his classroom. After 31 years teaching science, physical education and math, and coaching thousands of athletes in several sports, he'll retire from the classroom.

Davis spent two years as an animal keeper at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park prior to coming to Hanford Joint Union High School District to teach. But he joked, "teaching here is the same thing."

Davis added that keeping animals required some of the same skills as teaching, and some of those techniques came in handy while coaching.

Davis had been involved with wrestling since he was a student, and has coached or refereed throughout his teaching career. He also coached science, Earth and engineering clubs.

"You're not a real teacher unless you do extra-curriculurs," Davis said. "That's where you get to meet the real side of kids."

Several of the students Davis has coached, including Zack Zuniga and Jose Garcia, said he was a motivator and an inspiration to them. Zuniga said that "seeing Davis teach made (him) want to teach."

The most rewarding part of teaching, though, comes years after the classroom, Davis said. He recalled being in the hospital a couple of years ago and finding out that his nurse was one of his former students. Another of his former students, local optometrist Dr. Ron Keck, visits Davis' classroom to talk to students about eyes.

"He is a great teacher," said Keck, who had Davis as a teacher in the early 1980s. "He made learning fun."

Davis most enjoyed teaching science and encouraged his students to work toward a career in medicine because "there are so many opportunities." Davis is living one such opportunity as a volunteer firefighter for Kings County, which requires him to perform CPR and stay fresh on his anatomy knowledge.

"Most teachers teach their subject," Davis said. "I lived mine."

In retirement, Davis said he will miss dissections the most. He taught his students to dissect owl pellets, frogs, squid, sheep brains and fetal pigs.

He plans to take a couple years off to relax and get knee replacement surgery, but he is anticipating boredom and may later return to teach at a junior college.

Davis said that one of the top reasons he decided to retire now is because of the requirement "to teach to the test."

"Schools are losing sight of our goals," Davis said. "We need to be training them for a career not training them to answer a test question. Twenty years ago we accused Clovis (Unified School District) of teaching to the test. Now we're all doing it."

(May 26, 2008)