Hillcrest's pioneering broadcast journalism teacher Dave Davis retires
The teacher who wrote the script for Hillcrest High School's award-winning and nationally known student broadcast journalism program is retiring — for real this time.
Dave Davis, widely known as Coach Davis, went part-time a dozen years ago but hardly slowed down.
The Springfield native has been a fixture at the city's northernmost high school, where he built the HTV Magazine program — and its podcasts, including Bay 11 — from scratch. Hired by Springfield Public Schools in 1982, he spent all but one year of his long teaching career at The Hill.
"The biggest thing that kept me inspired and excited to go to work is the students at Hillcrest. Man, did I luck out. They are some of the best ... most dependable kids you could ever meet," said Davis, 67. "Through the years, they have done nothing but make my life better and more rich."
Davis said every day teaching high school journalism is different.
"You don't know what story some kid is going to bring in and say 'Hey, I want to do this, I want to cover that.' I love those moments when they surprise me. Maybe my nature is to enjoy the variety, the unexpected," Davis said. "Some of the craziest ideas they've had or that sound the most ridiculously challenging — the ones where I'm like 'Oh, no' — they come out great."
This past week, Davis produced his final HTV Magazine and the final podcast will soon drop. He admitted reaching the end is hitting him hard.
"It's rare that a teacher gets to create a program and stay with it and nurture it for as long as I have," Davis said. "It's become my home away from home."
He intended to return for one more year but a too-good-to-refuse job offer — in a related field, is all he will say until June 1 — changed his departure date.
"It's not teaching," he said. "If I was going to teach, I'd just stay where I am."
Davis honored with Silver Circle Award
The story of what Davis has accomplished at Hillcrest can be told, in part, by numbers. Here are a few:
41 years of teaching at Hillcrest, 34 as the HTV creator and advisor;
17 Broadcast Pacemaker Awards, a national record;
10 Robert F. Kennedy High School Journalism Awards, a national record;
More than 30 first-place production awards.
"One of my favorite things about HTV is that the kids kept it going strong, that we didn't have the big dips. It wasn't like a sports team that had two or three off years, we just kind of kept it going along successfully ... And that is probably my biggest source of pride," Davis said. "The kids deserve all the credit."
To share his knowledge beyond Hillcrest, Davis helped create the Student Television Network. He is also director of a national workshop that has trained broadcast journalism teachers from across the U.S. and five other countries since 2000.
Davis was honored with the Silver Circle Award at the Mid-America EMMY Awards in 2023. He was introduced at the event by 1992 Hillcrest graduate Daniel Arnall, who is credited with helping to start HTV as a student journalist.
"With no money, and no cameras and no experience, he and a group of kids built a broadcast journalism program that is one of the most honored in the United States," said Arnall, senior vice president of news programming for MSNBC/NBC New Group, where he manages all daytime news programming for MSNBC.
"Coach Davis taught us about doggedly pursuing truth, how to pitch a story that lands with authenticity and impact, how to write well, and that we could change the world by revealing things that either an audience doesn't see or doesn't want to see."
Arnall, recently inducted into the SPS Hall of Fame, noted students in Davis' newsroom tackle tough issues including civil rights, alcohol and drug abuse, guns, sexual assault, and immigration. He said it would be wrong to judge Davis' success just by the number of graduates who pursued journalism as a career.
"The real value of Dave Davis' work are the thousands of his students who today are preachers and pilots, factory workers and financial professionals, mechanics and stay-at-home moms. Why is that his most valuable contribution to journalism? It's because those people learned from him what it is all about," Arnall said.
He added: "Because of his vision and hard work, that army of HTV-ers know why the First Amendment and a free press are a vital part of the foundation of our democracy."
'Learn right alongside the kids'
Davis grew up in Springfield and "fell in love with the idea of journalism" as an eighth-grader writing for the student newspaper at Study Middle School.
At Central High School, he learned from journalism teacher Rich Williams — the man, Davis said, who "inspired us to write stories that got him called onto the carpet on a regular basis."
He earned a degree in journalism education from Evangel University and was hired by SPS, spending his first year at Pleasant View Middle School before transferring.
At Hillcrest, there was already a print journalism teacher so Davis taught English and coached baseball for years. His teams were highly competitive and successful.
But he missed journalism. Noting a broadcast journalism program had just started at Kickapoo High School, Davis pitched then-principal John Laurie on the idea of starting one at Hillcrest.
There was virtually no money, resources or equipment but 65 students signed up the first year so Davis had to quickly figure out how to shoot video and audio, edit the footage and upload it to a public access TV channel.
"I got to learn right alongside the kids and I was honest with them. I said 'Look, I've not done this before and we're going to have to figure this out. I'm going to need you to help me as much as I help you' and they bought into it," he recalled.
"My lack of experience in this case put me in the shoes of my students and I think it made me a better teacher."
Arnall, who enrolled in the first class, said it was thrilling to be part of an entrepreneurial endeavor. "As a student, you got a sense of things being possible that you didn't necessarily think could be possible."
He said from the beginning, HTV was "television for and by teens."
Arnall said more importantly, he felt a "real sense of ownership" in the final product. He said the lessons taught in Davis' class formed the foundation of his career.
"Telling a story is often just about being curious and we got credit for being curious in that classroom," he said. "And now I happen to get to be paid for being curious, which is great fun."
'It makes you a better person'
A decade later, Ashley Reynolds enrolled in Davis' class. She is an award-winning consumer investigative journalist at KY3, where she serves as the executive producer for the "On Your Side" segment.
The 2003 Hillcrest graduate was part of the program for four years and described Davis as "very direct," with a way of telling students constructively that a story fell short and they can do better.
"He gets to the heart of the matter. It makes you a better person. It made me a better storyteller," she said.
Reynolds said Davis was a "good critic" and set high expectations.
"He's always honest and no matter who he is talking to, he is the same person. I just love that," she said. "I feel like no matter what he had going on in his life, he always gave teaching 200% ... He always has this energy about him. He just commands your attention."
Asked if it was true that Davis rarely praised work unless it was exceptional, Reynolds laughed and said: "I don't think he started praising me until I was in my career."
She said the experiences in that class opened her eyes to the power of a well-reported story.
Reynolds, who keeps in touch with Davis, said she is having a difficult time imagining a Hillcrest without him there teaching journalism. "I'm selfishly heartbroken because we need good journalism more than ever.”
'A coach in the classroom'
In the early days of Hillcrest's broadcast journalism program, Davis was pulling double duty as a baseball coach.
In 1994, he made a decision to focus on HTV and stepped away from coaching but the "Coach Davis" moniker remained. "I learned a long time ago it was OK to be a coach in the classroom."
The lessons he learned as a coach translated well, such as reserving praise for work that exceeds expectations.
"We're able to keep the bar set pretty high. I think that's important," he said. "When I was coaching, I didn't go crazy because some guy made a routine play on the field."
Davis said he was not afraid to push a student to create a better story or try again.
"They know when they have kind of fallen short. These are smart kids and I call them on it and that's OK," he said.
He said those who pursue journalism as a career have a "fire in (their) belly and want to report" but he hopes all students learn life skills such as the ability to think critically, consider all sides, talk to people and "walk in other people's shoes a little bit."
Davis said he also wants them to graduate with self-confidence, public speaking skills and to be savvy consumers of news. "Hopefully they won't fall for slanted news or opinion that is presented as news."
Davis and wife Martha have two daughters, Lindsey, a teacher, and Jenny, a technical writer, and two grandchildren, Vivian and Elliott. He spends time with his parents, Wayne and Shirley, almost every day.
He said principals at Hillcrest, from John Laurie to Rob Kroll, have been supportive of the program.
More: Family of Glendale junior sues to stop SPS from 'forcing' student to graduate early
For nine years, Julie Leeth was principal at Hillcrest, stepping away in 2004. She was a strong supporter of Davis and the HTV program.
"Honestly, he was the type of teacher where you just stay out of the way," she recalled. "... I trusted him implicitly and kids respected him, the staff respected him. He's a hard, hard worker."
Leeth said for the broadcast journalism program to work, Davis had to trust his students.
"They were turned loose to go interview people. They had a lot of freedom they wouldn't have in a normal classroom setting," she said, noting the school "did not have to deal with discipline issues out of Dave's class."
She called Davis "Mr. Hillcrest" and described him as a pioneer who set a great example for students.
"They would come out of his class with a sense of responsibility, the power of the truth — because that's what they were looking for," she said. "He was always on them about being accurate."
Leeth said Davis will long be remembered by his students and colleagues. "He saw journalism in a new light. He was on the cutting edge."
"He wrote the script for that program and his legacy is preparing a ton of young people," Leeth said. "... He's left a huge legacy, in my opinion. And the students revere him and they are still devoted to him."
Want to go?
A farewell reception for Coach Dave Davis is scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 15 at Hillcrest High School. It is open to former broadcast students and supporters.
Who will take over HTV?
Rae Snobl, a 1996 graduate of Hillcrest High School and a former broadcast journalism student of Dave Davis, will take over the HTV Magazine and podcasts, including Bay 11.
Snobl, who teaches at Hillcrest, has been working alongside Davis in recent years.
"We've been getting my successor prepared and she is a former HTV-er, one of the best ever," Davis said.
"She is taking over and I couldn't be more excited because she'll do great. I won't lose a wink of sleep about the program with her in charge."
More than 100 SPS retirees
Dave Davis is not the only Springfield school employee retiring at the end of the 2023-24 year. The district provided the names of more than 100 others. They include: Gregory Askew, Janell Bagwell, Catherine Barrett, Renee Becraft, Wendi Biesemeyer, Linda Blair, Pamela Bodine, Karen Bowman, Dee Brake, Judy Bright-Goss, April Brown, Kerri Bruce, Carol Bullard, Dana Burk, Stephanie Candie, Ruth Cantrell, John Carr, Lynn Cheuk, Karyn Christy, Shanna Clearwater, Julie Coble, Cheryle Cole, Tamera Cook, Tammy Cook, Daniel Courtney, Diane Courtney, Candace Crawford, Angela Cunningham, Cheri Dade, Stephanie Davidson, Heather Degood, Jacqueline Dorsey, Deborah Eliason, John Faison, Brenda Feind, Debra Fine, Lorie Fisher, Bradley Fitzlaff, Rachel Flatness, Debbie Foley, Kyndal Frazier, Amy Gardner, Rhonda Gilbert, Cynthia Gitthens, Frances Glidewell, Ralene Graves, Deborah Gray, Anita Green, Richard Green, David Greer, Maria Grindstaff, Mary Haegg, Alan Hakes, Janet Hanak, Debra Hanson, Tracy Hessee, Donna Hogg, Shelly Howell, Dana Hubbard, Heather Huckstep, Angela Humble, Tammy Jackson, Roger Jarman, William Johnson, Lou Kennedy, Catherine Kerwin, Melissa Knetzer, Ewa Kovacs, Christina Lafoon-Musil, Elizabeth Leo, Ti Chuan Liu, Shannon Markowitz, Ginger McCullough, Libbey McDaniel, Rhonda Meador, Martin Mertens, Kim Meyer, Irell Miller, Rhonda Miller, David Miller, Tara Morris, Ruby Mullen, Susan Nottle, Jeffrey O'Neill, Bradley Owings, Joanne Phillips, Niesje Plank, Danny Potts, Kelly Prude, Brady Quirk, Debra Ross, Sheryl Ruff-Hensley, Marsha Saddler, Shelly Sawchak, Michael Sharp, Gary Shatto, Steven Short, Danny Shreffler, Kirk Slater, Pamela Slemp, Katherine Somerville, Donna Spears, Kim Spence, Sarah Stephenson, Robert Stewart, Karen Stough, Terry Stufflebeam, Cory Sutherlin, Margaret Sykes, Brenda Tannehill, Kim Taylor, Desiree Tucker, Christina Waggoner, Kelly Wallace, Ann Wallenmeyer, Latricia Wilkerson, Christina Wilkinson, Laurel Williams, William Wilson, Sarah Young and Patricia Young.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Pioneering Hillcrest High School journalism teacher Dave Davis retires
