Davey named Teacher of the Year

After 19 years of dedication to the Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High school district, world history teacher Mike Davey has been named the district Teacher of the Year for 2012-2013. 

“I was surprised, because I’ve been nominated a few times, and I just didn’t think it would happen.” Davey said. “There are so many great teachers on campus that it’s an honor; it’s also a little embarrassing, but it’s an honor.”  

He will be recognized at the convocation of Saratoga High School and Los Gatos High school in August, and at the county office in September.

Davey has taught various subjects during his two decades here, including English, physical education and social studies. 

Additionally, Davey coached the boys’ varsity basketball team for 14 years before switching to coach girls’ varsity basketball for the past four years. Davey also plays an important role in the Media Arts Program, teaching World History MAP; he was also one of the teachers in charge of the LIFE program on campus several years ago.

As a teacher, Davey likes to innovate and come up with new ways to teach his curriculum. 

“I try a lot of new things in class with students,” Davey said. “Sometimes they're guinea pigs, but I do like to experiment with new ways to have students interact and demonstrate their skills.”

World history teacher Kirk Abe said Davey is a hard-working and creative teacher.

“He is always innovating and revamping his curriculum,” Abe said. “He is never satisfied and always sees ways to improve what he does; he also genuinely cares about his students and will go the extra mile to help students.”

Sophomore Lauren Lin, one of his World History students, said Davey’s classes are engaging and interactive, which makes learning the material much easier. 

“My favorite class was probably when he brought in his Wii and Just Dance 2 for the Russia unit,” Lin said. “It's the perfect example of how he makes history entertaining.” 

Sophomore Sean Su said, “He is a good teacher because he gets things done while being entertaining, and he builds relations with his students well.” 

Davey said his teaching owes much to the assistance of other teachers. Over the years, he learned about teaching from sharing a classroom with history teacher Kim Anzalone for a year and co-teaching the LIFE program with English teacher Kerry Mohnike for three years.

“There are so many teachers on campus who are fantastic and help me a lot so I’m really appreciative and thankful to them,” Davey said. “It’s really because so many [other] teachers around me are so good that I’ve improved [as a teacher] too.”