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Meet Davion Lewis of The RISE Schools in East Point

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Davion Lewis.

Davion, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My entry into education was not planned and somewhat of an accident. After graduating from college at Bethune-Cookman University, I moved to New York City to begin “adulting”. As is true like most transplants to NYC, my first job was at Macy’s Herald Square as a sales associate. My plan was to do retail in the evenings and weekends while searching for my dream job during the day. Looking back, there were many other jobs; grassroots activists, campaign jobs, etc. that excited and came close to accepting but I passed on for one reason or another. Around the same time, I was able to land an internship at an online start-up focused on helping recent college grads, like myself, with find job opportunities. After a few months juggling retail, the internship, and job searching, I finally landed a job that excited me, but would also allow me to be financially independent. That job was with a private education company that ran tutoring programs and after-school programs. My job was to be the site manager running its programs at two public schools in Brooklyn, NY. That was my first full-time job in the education space, and 13 years later, here I am!

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As with life itself, my career has had peaks and valleys. Today, I am proud to serve as the Executive Director of the RISE Schools. Over the last 13 years, I have seen a lot of things, many of those things, if I went into details about, you’d say I was making up. But your typical school is really a microcosm of society, so all those things; poverty, crime, gentrification, gang-related activity, discrimination, etc., that affect the community where they are located gets played in the school. So, whatever you can think of, I probably have a story about it- I always tell people, if you a great reality show series, but some cameras in a school building.

But being an educator has also taught me many great lessons; like putting the needs of our children before the needs of an adult, the importance of using research and data when making big decisions, the importance of having empathy and providing great customer service to our families, that no one person will have all the answers, and the enormous responsibility of managing millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Perhaps one of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned though has been the importance of a vision. A vision for how you will conduct yourself, a vision for how you will treat others, a vision for how you will lead, a vision for how you want young people to see you and the legacy that you would like to leave behind.

This is important to me because as a first-generation student of color, I personally understand the importance that having access to high-quality education plays in creating opportunities for social mobility, economic freedom, and personal and professional success. And so, I think about this vision and legacy a lot because I strongly believe that if we can solve education, then we can fix many societal inequities. This is particularly true for our black and brown boys, who are under assault. This concern has been a particular focus throughout my career, and my work in trying to meet their needs has been the work that I am the proudest of. It is also why it is the focus of my doctoral research.

During my career, I’ve been blessed to make great relationships with some awesome families. I have been fortunate to impact the lives of children and see them grow up to become amazing young adults. I have been privileged to work alongside some of the hardest working public servants on the planet. They get up every day at the crack of dawn to teach our children, they spend their own money on supplies and food and other necessities for our children. They work very long hours often in very challenging situations while wearing multiple hats, and do it all with a smile on their faces. For that, I am beyond grateful for these last 13 years. It’s really helped shape the person I am today, my commitment to my community, and the way I view public policy.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with The RISE Schools – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of and what sets you apart from others.
The RISE Schools is public charter schools network located in East Point, Georgia. We currently have two schools, RISE Grammar, our elementary school, grades K-5 and RISE Prep our middle school, grades 6, 7, and 8. There are a lot of great public schools out there, both district and charter, that are doing some amazing things, but there are a number of things that sets RISE apart. First is our amazing principals, Dr. Aisha Moore-Webb at our elementary school, and Mr. Christian Harden at our middle school. Leadership matters and I am fortunate to have both of them as the instructional leaders on our team. They do an awesome job of leading and coaching our amazing teachers. We also do an amazing job operationally and that work is supported by the rest of our executive team, Liz Lambert, our director of business operations, Derrill Miller, our director of school operations, and Jamaal Greer, our Community Engagement Manager. They along with the rest of our network team, Jackie, Tami, Antwan. Ashley, Tamarre and everyone else, as well as our Board of Directors, the best public charter school board there is, all make my job so much easier. The other thing that really sets us apart is our approach to teaching and learning. We believe in a holistic approach to working with our scholars, which is reflected in our 6 Pillars: 1)Restorative Practices, 2)Entrepreneurism, 3)Ethics of Care, 4)Experiential Learning, 5)Culturally Responsive Teaching, and 6)Social-Emotional Wellness. This along with our small-school, family-oriented environment makes RISE a great place to work and makes me ridiculously proud to serve as its Executive Director.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Professionally, the next few months will be critical as RISE is at a pivotal moment in its existence. Most people might not realize this, but public charter schools operate on, most usually, 5- year contracts with the local district or the state and those contracts must get renewed at the end of each contract term. We are in the process of renewing our charter contract, and so we are looking forward to successfully completing that process and to five more years of growing, learning, improving, and educating our scholars. RISE is also very blessed to have a great deal of community support and we often get reminded that there are more and more families on the south side that are in need of great school options like RISE. So, we are also looking at how best to grow to meet the needs of the local community. We are fortunate to enjoy the support of our local leaders as the mayor of East Point, the members of the city council, and various agency heads are firends of RISE. At the county level, board of education member, Kimberly Dove has been an advocate for RISE and so too has Kenneth Mason, at the State Board of Education. So, we are really just looking forward to continuing to working with these leaders, our community partners, and our families to continue to have the privilege of serving our scholars and the wider school community.

Personally, this is an exciting time for me as well. I am one semester closer to completing my coursework in my doctoral program. I continue to be involved in my community through my fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc. as well as supporting my undergraduate school, the great, the historic, Bethune-Cookman University, where I serve as president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Alumni Association. We are also at a pivotal moment in our history at BCU, and I am so excited and optimistic about our future under the leadership of our new president, Dr. E. LaBrent Chrite, and look forward to working with the rest of the Alumni across the metro area to supporting him in his work. I also am thrilled and humbled to be a candidate to the next councilmember for Ward A for the City of East Point. This a new and exciting journey for me, but it’s really been a blessing talking to my neighbors and community advocates and organizers, and business leaders about their concerns and their hopes for Ward A and our East Point. I hope to have the privilege of representing and serving them.

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Image Credit:
Jamal Hardman of Hardman Portraits

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