by Donna McAleer
It wasn't an obvious blueprint for success.
John Davis picked cotton, pulled corn, harvested sorghum, and worked as a cook and a carhop during his early high school years in the small town of Belmont, Miss.
But he was forced to drop out of high school to work even more because there was simply not enough financial or emotional support at home to sustain him. Without a high school diploma, Davis knew he was destined to work a string of dead-end jobs.
Determined to find a way out, he joined the Army at 17. It was there that Davis got the second chance he needed by earning his GED (General Equivalency Diploma).
For Davis, passing the GED exam was the first of many educational successes. He discovered he was a born learner and a born teacher: At 18 he became an Army training instructor and took every course and certificate program he could during his stint in the Army.
After he left the service in 1962, he sold insurance and took advantage of many of the professional training opportunities available in that field. He also served as an insurance training instructor.
In 1974 Davis started taking classes at UNLV on the GI Bill; he earned a bachelor's degree in education in 1978 and a master's degree in educational administration three yearsælater. He also enrolled in UNLV's modular M.B.A. program.
His return to the classroom as a student inspired him to return to that setting as a teacher. For several years he taught history and served as yearbook advisor at Boulder City High School.
But Davis soon realized that to him, offering someone a second chance was a more important calling. And he could think of no better way to do that than by helping others take advantage of the same opportunity that opened so many doors for him: the GED.
That realization led him to his current job as a training consultant who prepares adults to take and pass the GED exam.
Davis is frequently hired by some of Las Vegas' most notable resorts, including The Mirage, Treasure Island, and the Rio, to conduct their in-house GED training programs. He comes to his clients highly recommended by the Clark County School District.
But Davis' versatility is another reason he is one of the busiest GED training consultants in town. He is fully certified to teach all of the five subjects on the GED test (writing skills, social studies, mathematics, science, and interpreting literature and the arts), a qualification most other teachers don't have.
And he is an expert on the GED program itself, which was started by the U.S. Armed Forces Institute in 1942 for World War II soldiers who didn't have a chance to finish high school because of the war.
When they returned to their civilian lives afterward, the thinking went, they would be competing for jobs in a tight post-war economy; the GED would give them a chance to show they had learned what a high school graduate knew, even if they hadn't learned it in the classroom. But, more importantly, Davis notes, it also gave them a chance to continue their educations.
During the '50s the program came under the management of the American Council on Education and was offered to the general public.
Today, the GED is recognized as the equivalent of a high school diploma in all 50 states, Canada, and many foreign countries. Each year approximately 700,000 people participate in the program. To earn a GED, a participant must take an eight-hour standardized test covering the five aforementioned areas.
In each of his test preparation classes, Davis usually covers the same familiar material. But he refuses to take a cookie-cutter approach when it comes to his students. He assesses each one individually to determine his or her strengths and weaknesses. A wall in his office is covered with Polaroid pictures of each of his current students.
"I keep them up there until they pass the test or leave the program. Most of them pass," he says with a smile.
The circumstances that have brought people to the GED program are very different, Davis says. For some, school "just didn't click" when they were younger. Some, like Davis himself, experienced problems at home and had to go to work to survive. Others worked to help out their families or left school to have a baby. Still others decide they want to earn a degree after immigrating to the United States.
Despite their differences in age, nationality, and type of work, program participants share one characteristic, according to Davis: exceptional motivation.
They all seem to pursue their GEDs with uncommon dedication, he says, though they do so for a variety of reasons. Setting an example for their children was frequently cited by participants as the most compelling reason for earning the GED.
Davis' former student Angie Hernandez was one of those parents who wanted to be a good role model.
"I was so touched when my eight-year-old said to me, 'I'm going to get my diploma, too, but in high school.' Then I knew all the hard work was worth every minute," says Hernandez, a class of '94 GED graduate.
Davis notes that people in the program don't usually have problems handling their studies. "It's all the rest - managing all the other aspects of their lives, their jobs, families, and finances - that make completing the program a challenge," he says.
His courses meet two evenings each week, with a third session every other week. Each session is two hours.
"Make no mistake about it. These students pay a tremendous price," Davis says. "If a 16- or 17-year-old is in high school, he lives at home, his mom does the laundry, and he can just hang out. But my students have jobs and families."
The GED program Davis conducts is rigorous but flexible. Each course is
typically 16 weeks long, but some students get out sooner. Some stay
longer. He recognizes that some of his students won't have anything close
to perfect attendance because of the demands of home and work.
He keeps the door open for them, however, tutoring them individually over the rough spots, evaluating their assignments, encouraging them to continue, and letting them know when they're ready to take the test.
"I make class as much fun as possible," Davis says.
He takes his students through American history, polynomial equations, sentence structure, and appreciation of the arts. He doesn't rely on the straight lecture approach. He supplements text-books with his own materials and videos. He gets students actively involved in prob-lem solving and discussion. He prides himself on keeping the material fresh.
Davis draws on his experience as a professional trainer in the insurance field to teach the adult learners in his classes. His goal is to keep his students excited and involved, despite the great differences in their learning styles, backgrounds, and even languages.
"Many of the skills I use today I gained in insurance. But the knowledge I impart I gained at UNLV," says Davis.
Some of those skills include fostering a "can-do" attitude and mastering mnemonic techniques to help students keep the names and dates in history straight. But Davis isn't content to have his students simply memorize. He wants them to recognize, relate, assimilate, evaluate, and apply what they've learned.
It's his individual approach that many students credit with their success in the program. He tailors assignments to their needs. And when a series of practice tests and his 20+ years of experience tell him someone is ready, he'll schedule the exam for him or her. He even meets his students at the testing center before the standardized test begins to provide moral support.
"I was very impressed," says Sheila Best, a GED recipient from the Mirage. "His commitment to us really showed through in his teaching."
While the successes of his students bring him
great satisfaction, the
larger social good of the employer-offered GED training programs is not
lost on Davis.
The need is certainly there, he points out, citing statistics from a recent newspaper article indicating that nearly 12 percent of local high school students dropped out of school last year. And while the booming service industries of Southern Nevada may provide these people with jobs initially, he says, they often end up in low-paying positions withælittle hope of advancement.
Without a high school diploma, it will be harder for them to get ahead, he says, noting that dropouts earn about 30 percent less than high school graduates over the course of a lifetime.
The nearly 100 employees who have completed Davis' GED classes at The Mirage, Treasure Island, and the Rio have not only the intangible satisfaction of achieving a long-held goal, but, in many cases, the tangible reward of receiving a promotion or two.
But the GED clearly means more to the students than just a chance to get ahead. For many, passing the GED is a personal triumph.
Take, for example, Sherry Roretz, one of Davis' students who wrote a poem to describe her feelings about her success in the program and the man who helped her achieve it.
Davis is understandably moved by Roretz's gratitude and that of his other students. But the feeling is mutual; he is grateful to them as well.
"Teaching last year's GED class was one of the most inspirational experiences of my career," says Davis, adding that he was impressed by how hard his students worked and the obstacles they overcame.
"Not everyone can feel that his job makes a difference, but I do. I really feel like I've helped people change their lives. It's a great feeling," he says.
