Florida elementary school art teacher Chanique Davis shares door displays created to celebrate the annual observance of Black History Month. Photo credit: www.goodmorningamerica.com

Our annual observance of Black History Month is an opportunity for educators to share stories about African American culture with our students. One educator who does a wonderful job of this is Chanique Davis, a fifth grade art teacher at Lake Alfred Elementary School in Lake Alfred, Florida. Lake Alfred Elementary is a Title I school, with a high population of students receiving free or reduced price breakfast and lunch.

This year, Chanique has experienced limited access to her classroom. But last year, Chanique created two artistic door displays for her classroom. The one on the left shows her Graffiti Queen creation, and the one on the right is a tribute to Tyler Perry tpo celebrate his great accomplishment of opening his own film studio. “Decorating doors and teaching [students] about culture allows me to mold and shape their minds, and their hearts to be respectful and kind,” asserts Chanique. The Chalkboard Champion says she hopes to use art to teach her students an appreciation for diversity and beauty in the cultures of others.

Chanique overcame many obstacles to find her way into the classroom. During high school, she was homeless for three years, living in empty houses, in the family car, at local shelters, and in the woods. “A family member messed up some things for us financially,” Chanique recalls about how they lost their apartment. But those challenges never stopped her from achieving. “I still made straight A’s all through high school,” she continued. “I persevered through all that and graduated with a 4.0 (grade-point average),” she says. In fact, as a Lake Gibson High School student in the mid-2000s, she was a Ledger Silver Garland winner in the foreign language category.

To read more about this amazing educator, see this article published by Florida Headline News.