Found her niche
Big Brothers, Big Sisters director is right where she wants to be
By Scott Rochat
Saturday, March 24, 2007
When she was little, Melissa Davis thought she wanted to be a teacher. As she grew up, she wasn’t so sure. She still loved kids, but wasn’t so sure about all those standardized tests.
Now she seems to have split the difference. As of Feb. 26, Davis is the new head of Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Flint Hills, a post that allows her plenty of child time without one multiple-choice question.
“We get to do all kinds of fun things,” said Davis, who is mentoring two first-grade girls and a second-grade girl in Chase County. “We get to draw and we’ve watercolored — we have some good artists in that area. It’s just so much fun.”
Growing up in Lyndon, Davis had plenty of mentors of her own. Perhaps her greatest, she said, was her Texas grandmother who had raised a family while also working at Fort Worth National Bank.
“She’s a dynamic person. She lived through a lot,” said Davis, who would spend weeks visiting her during the summer. “She’s achieved a lot to be what she is today.”
Davis came to Emporia State University in 1999 to study education, but had switched to communications by the time she graduated. She even added a degree in sociology after ESU Professor Gary Wyatt ignited her interest in the subject.
It’s easy to guess, she’s not the cubicle type.
“I’ve never had a job where I didn’t work with the public,” she said. “I even started out as a waitress.”
Perhaps her most challenging job came at the Mental Health Center of East Central Kansas, when she worked as a case manager for mentally ill adults. It took patience. It took attention to detail. And it took a compassion that, while vital, could also make the job more difficult at times.
“It was hard,” she said. “I can’t imagine being in their shoes.”
That six months had benefits down the line, though. In addition to heading up Big Brothers Big Sisters, Davis is also the director of Compeer, a nonprofit that helps provide friends and mentors for those being treated for mental illness.
Even so, she said, “it was a little bit more relaxed environment coming here.”
Davis worked as program coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters for two years before becoming the director. And as it happened, she jumped on board while the organization was going through a growth spurt. The Wednesday morning program in Chase County just started in February. The programs in Lowther North and South intermediate schools and in Morris County are at most a few months older.
No matter where it happens, Davis loves watching the results.
“People don’t realize that spending an hour or even a half-hour with a child once a week can impact that child’s life,” she said. “It’s amazing what our volunteers can do for the kids in the program. It gives the kids something to look forward to. It may be the best part of their week.”
Right now, a lot of her time and attention is focused on the organization’s annual fund raiser, Bowl for Kids’ Sake, on May 7. But the goal makes even the logistics worth it.
“A lot of people are unhappy with their jobs, with where they are,” she said. “I’m happy to have found my niche. I love my niche.”