From our West Plains Chapter:
You may be a bit surprised as you walk down the hall at Davenport Middle
School today. What you will not see are many students in the classrooms, hallways, or
common areas. If you were to drive around the homes surrounding our school what you
will see are students in yards raking leaves and cleaning up for a few our beloved
Gorilla senior citizens. This is just one of the many ways our Gorilla middle schoolers
show citizenship throughout the year.
PACE defines citizenship as: positively contributing to society and community as
well as dutifully respecting authority and the law. Citizenship is a foundational skill that
we try to teach and model at DMS. As you walk through the glass doors of Davenport
Middle School you will see a giant compass on the floor with Discover, Contribute,
Create, and Explore on each of the cardinal directions. From its inception seven years
ago, DMS staff and students have focused on contribution as the theme for the school.
Every school year the student body collects hundreds of items for Treats for Troops,
collects food for our local Care and Share, stuffed toys for the Spokane hospitals and
picks up garbage around the town on community clean up day.
But, beyond the big acts of contribution, if you were to come to Davenport
Middle School you would also see small acts of citizenship from the staff and students
every single day. You may see a group of boys who clean up after lunch every day
regardless if it’s their mess or not. Or signs on teachers’ doors from a group of girls
who call themselves the RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) Kids who leave notes and
treats for the staff members once a week. You may see staff greeting students at the
front door giving high-fives to every student walking through. To put it simply, DMS
shows citizenship in as many ways as they can.
I encourage anyone to make the short drive to our beautiful, little town and stop
by, what I believe to be the best school in Washington: Davenport Middle School where
students are RESPECTFUL, RESPONSIBLE, and READY!
Sarah Raugust, MS ed. has been teaching in Davenport for 17 years. She
teachs 6th grade ELA and am the PACE coordinator for our school. Sarah is involved in
several school and community activities and believes that social emotional education is
vital for all students.
