With nearly 27 years of classroom experience under her belt, Marcia Davis has learned a thing or two about helping students set and achieve high goals.

“You’ve got to do the right thing at the right time in the right way to be successful,” says Davis, a science teacher at Fort Dale Academy.

Her method obviously works. Davis was recently named the AISA Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Her enthusiasm coupled with her extensive knowledge of her subject matter, which includes Life Science, Earth Science, Biology, Anatomy and Physiology, Botany/Zoology, Physics and Advanced Biology, helps prepare FDA students for science-related career paths.

“If you can show students how relevant science is to their lives, they really grasp onto it. I am graduating students every year that go on to science careers,” Davis, who is head of the school’s Science Department, says.

A graduate of Lowndes Academy with a BS in Secondary Education from Auburn University Montgomery, Davis’ latest accolade is one in a long list for this talented teacher, who has taught and coached at Fort Deposit Academy, Lowndes Academy and, since 1989, at FDA.

She was named Teacher of the Year at Fort Deposit Academy in 1989 and Fort Dale Academy in 1993 and was previously nominated for AISA Teacher of the Year in 1993, 1996 and 2000. Davis has been a multiple year honoree in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and won the WAKA Golden Apple Award in 2009.

Among her many duties, she also serves as the school’s and district’s Science Fair coordinator, National Honor Society advisor and senior class advisor.

Davis believes you should always expect and demand the best from those in your classroom.

“You need to make every child feel special without lowering expectations. If you hold students up to the highest expectations, they will achieve. To make a difference in the life of a child is the most rewarding and powerful job in the world,” she said.