LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Tonya Davison was nominated by a colleague, Stephanie Lewis.

"Ms. Tonya is one of only two educators at our school. She fills that role in invaluable, innovative, and attentive ways. Ms. Tonya is our school preschool teacher and the Community Club Advisor - a social learning group for 3rd through 8th grade students. In addition to those roles, she works one-on-one and in small groups to support student academic success," said Lewis.

"One of the things that makes Ms. Tonya exceptional is her ability to individualize learning experiences to capture the attention and engagement of each learner. For example, when a little learner was missing the family ranch while at school, Ms. Tonya procured cow ear tags and put dots on them, creating an engaging ranch game to help him learn his numbers. When a 4th grader was working to learn a new math concept, she used his love of rodeo to create real-life story problems that captured his attention and helped him to grasp the ideas better. There was a time when the middle schoolers were reading about SPAM. The students were excited by the reading, so Ms. Tonya took to the internet to discover a SPAM museum and share that information with the students. She was able to capitalize on their enthusiasm and extend their learning in interesting ways," said Lewis. "Ms. Tonya never lets a moment of opportunity pass by. When students are enthusiastic, she quickly capitalizes on that enthusiasm and uses it to grow their learning. She is incredibly attentive to learner needs and interests and is flexible with her instruction."

"Ms. Tonya is an invaluable addition to our school. When she sees a need, she works to fill it. When the students wanted to create a haunted tunnel for the school carnival, Ms. Tonya procured the resources to help construct the tunnel. She recruited volunteers and came independently to help put the tunnel together. Our school doesn't have a counselor, so Ms. Tonya self-educated ways counselors support students and worked to fill the role - seeking ways to support students in peer relationships, emotional development, and physical needs. When our school's reading scores showed a serious need one year, Ms. Tonya volunteered to work with students outside her normal schedule to help accelerate their learning and fill the gaps," said Lewis. "From teaching to laminating to even driving the school bus daily, Ms. Tonya is a critical member of our school's team. Her heart is with the students, which shows in everything she does."