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In full-time positions, she has taught 10 years in fourth grade and about 23 years in a fifth grade classroom.

For Devert, the early years of uncertainty working with fellow teachers and bouncing around schools and classrooms quickly helped adapt her to a life in the classroom.

“As a teacher you have to be very flexible,” Devert said. “I know what I’m supposed to do tomorrow, but there are interruptions.”

While interruptions may come now and again, Devert said that she really values the opportunity she has to interact with the kids in her classroom and make a positive impact on their lives.

“I love to get to know their little personalities and I can tell if something is bothering them,” Devert said. “I can tell if they don’t feel the best.”

Throughout her career, Devert has learned to make adjustments as they have been needed to better serve her students. One of these adjustments has been the increase in reading aloud to the kids.

Devert is a strong believer that this practice helps the students with their comprehension and their ability to know what reading is supposed to sound like. She said she tries to read aloud to her students daily.

“There’s so much information out there that is digital, that they don’t have to work at stuff and they need to work at reading,” Devert said. “They need to know what it sounds like to read fluently. I think reading and writing are huge.”

Devert thinks that she has learned a lot about educating over the years from not only listening to her students but also collaborating with her fellow teachers.

Two of her fifth grade colleagues –Nancy Huber and Eileen Behrends –will be joining Devert in retirement at the end of this school year.

“I’ve had fabulous coworkers,” Devert said. “We’ve all become really good friends and I think that’s huge. I like working here and I like the people that I work with.”

Devert said the teachers she works with have been more than happy to share ideas, projects and tips between them, leading to a positive and student-first work environment.

While her kids and coworkers have been the main thing that has kept Devert in the classroom throughout her 35 years and will be the main things that she misses, she will move on to tackle her next chapter in life.

Continued from page 5 the first friends she made knew sign language which peaked her interest in learning from him.

“I thought, ‘Wow, this is really cool. Maybe I want to be a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing,’” Davis said. “So I switched my major and transferred to another college and graduated with a teaching certificate.”

This move for Davis kicked off a teaching career that has spanned 42 years including 17 years in Florida, two years in Joliet and now 23 years working in the Putnam County School District.

Davis first began as a self-contained deaf and hard of hearing teacher but after returning to Illinois saw a decrease in students in need of her specific services. This led to her accepting a position as an itinerant teacher at Putnam County, where she was shared with other local districts.

“I would travel,” Davis said. “I had students over in Hennepin, Tonica, Grand Ridge and Lostant so that’s how I would spend my days. The further I’ve ever been east is Senica, the furthest north was Mendota and the furthest south was Streator.”

As the number of her deaf and hard of hearing students dwindled, Davis took the opportunity to take classes to qualify herself to become a school librarian, a title that has since evolved to include the responsibilities of a media director for the school district.

Davis manages the library at the Putnam County High School and helps the paraprofessionals that are in charge of the libraries at the other district buildings.

“They are amazing and wonderful people,” Davis said. “I couldn’t live without them. They do so much more above and beyond what they get paid to do.”

As the media director, Davis said that the role has grown far from the traditional librarian and her passion for books. The job now encompasses a wide variety of technologies from computers, learning aids and much more.

“It’s been like a roller coaster and I never want to stop learning,” Davis said. “I want to keep learning, too, and I think that’s part of what has made me want to be a teacher and what has inspired me to help the kids as well.”

While transitioning to her new title as media director, Davis also has continued to help the district service deaf and hard of hearing students when it has been needed. She still works with one student who will be graduating this year.

Working with those who are hard of hearing always has been close to Davis’ work as sometimes it can be as simple as not facing the board while teaching or also can require a more intensive oneon-one level of helping.

“When I first started learning sign language I thought ‘I’ve found my people,’” Davis said. “I found my language and it’s still a big part of who I am and I can’t stop. Sign language helps me find the words that I need to express myself.”

Over her years in education, Davis said that she has continued to see herself in the students that she services and also serves as a voice for them in communication to their classroom teachers about what may help them learn more effectively.

“I love it when that light bulb comes on,” Davis said. “They see ‘Oh, this is how to do this skill.’ Just for them to realize that this is what I need and it’s OK to keep learning. The skills that we are giving them are preparing them for life.”

For Davis, these educational collaborations don’t just come from the teachers in the classroom and the parents. Large roles also are played by everyone the student interacts with daily from paraprofessionals, cooks, bus drivers and janitors.

Being there for the students she served is something that Davis has close to her heart throughout her teaching tenure.

“Just to know that those kids are relying on me is important,” Davis said. “They need me and I need them. They just challenge me in different ways to grow and things to read. I’ve had students recommend books for me to read and I just cherish that. The students really make the big difference.”

While the students have made the difference for Davis, Assistant High School Principal Chris Newsome said Davis has made a big difference for many of the students and faculty that work and attend Putnam County.

“She does a great job of unifying the schools, not only as just a librarian or media director, she goes way past that,” Newsome said. “She provides so many resources for kids and instructors. She’s just a great individual to feature and she’s one of the good ones.”

Davis plans to retire from the Putnam County School District after the 2023-24 school year after a total of 43 years in education and helping those in needs of hearing services.

“I’m here in Putnam County and I’m honored to work here,” Davis said. “It’s really a wonderful district with great people to work with. The community, staff and students all make it a blessing to work here and finish my teaching career here.”