30-year Texas career comes to a close
In the first week of January 1991, Suddam Hussein prepared his troops for what he said would be a long violent war against the United States, MLB officially banned Pete Rose from being elected to the Hall of Fame and the U.S. Congress gave President George H.W. Bush authority to wage war against Iraq. In this same week, DCISD Superintendent Gary Davis began his career in public education that would span almost 30 years.
Last week, Davis announced he will retire from Denver City ISD in July after having served the district for the past 17 years. Mr. Davis came to DCISD in 2003 as the assistant principal at the high school campus. He spent one year in that role before becoming the DCHS principal, a position he held until 2013. He then served two years as the Assistant Superintendent and the last six as Superintendent of Schools.
Mr. Davis began his teaching career at Hood Junior High in Odessa, Texas, where he taught English and World History. Following a year in Odessa, Davis moved to Wall High School where he taught Speech Communications, Journalism and Theatre. This is where he directed his very first UIL One-Act Play, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, which advanced to the UIL State OAP competition. After two years in Wall, he met the love of his life, Carmela Gulledge. The met in June of 1992 and were married in her hometown of Lovington, NM in June of 1993. Davis then began teaching in Lovington. He spent one year teaching 8th grade English, before moving to the high school to teach Speech and Theatre.
In 1996, the Davises moved to Plains, Texas, where they both taught in the high school. Gary taught speech, journalism, art and theatre, while Carmela taught Biology. In December of 1996, Carmela was accepted into the Masters of Physical Therapy program at Hardin-Simmons University. She spent two years in Abilene, while Gary continued to teach in Plains and subsequently obtain his Masters degree in Educational Administration at The College of the Southwest in Hobbs, NM.
In 1999, the Davises moved to Denver City, where Carmela began working as a Physical Therapist at Yoakum County Hospital. Gary continued commuting to Plains High School for three years, where he continued teaching, directing OAP, and working as the UIL Academic Coordinator. In addition, he spent one year at the PHS Counselor. While at Plains, Mr. Davis’s OAP companies won 7 district championships, advanced to the regional level 6 times and to the UIL State OAP contest once.
In 2003, Davis came to Denver City HS as the assistant principal. When principal Jerry Birdsong resigned at the end of the 2004 school year, Davis was named as the high school principal. He served eight years in that role. During that time, DCHS was named a U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School and enjoyed many successes in all phases of competition. In June of 2012, Mr. Davis became the Assistant Superintendent and Business Manager for DCISD. He continued to work under Superintendent Dag Azam until Azam’s retirement in the Summer of 2014. In July of 2014, Mr. Davis became the 8th Superintendent in DCISD history. Among his greatest achievements was seeing the construction of the new DCHS campus to completion. “Mr. Azam deserves the credit, I was just fortunate to be able to reap the benefits”, Davis said.
Gary Davis is a member of the Texas Association of School Administrators (TASA), the Texas Association of Community Schools (TACS), the Texas School Coalition, the chairman of the University Interscholastic League’s One-Act Play Advisory Committee, the Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA), a former member of the TETA Advisory Board and the Texas Theatre Adjudicators & Officials Organization (TTAO). In addition, he is a member of the Region 17 Education Service Center’s Regional Advisory Committee and a member of the UIL Region 16 Music Executive Committee. In 2018, Mr. Davis was selected as the Texas Administrator of the Year by the TETA. He previously served on the Foundation Scholarship Board for the New Mexico Junior College, is a past president of the Denver City Chamber of Commerce and is currently an elder at the Denver City Church of Christ.
“I have had 17 great years working with some of the very best educators in the business”, Davis said. “I will take so many memories with me and I will be “forever red” and I will always “BeDC!”
This month, Mr. Davis celebrates 27 years of marriage to his wife, Carmela. They have three children: Marlow, a senior at Abilene Christian University; Sawyer, a senior at Denver City High School & Emery, an 8th grader.
Mr. Davis has accepted a position as the principal of Jefferson Elementary in Lovington, New Mexico.
