Alachua County Public Schools names School Related Employee of Year
The Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) announced Monday the recipient of its 2025 School Related Employee of the Year.
According to an ACPS release, Whitney Davis, the family liaison at the Rawlings Center for Fine Arts in Gainesville, was selected for the award.
Davis has a unique perspective on the children and family she serves, as she weighed less than three pounds when she was born prematurely and has battled for life since birth. Her premature birth led to years of intensive therapy and medical treatment, including a shunt placed in her brain, and she was expected to suffer permanent disabilities.
“Ms. Whitney has the gift of understanding the most difficult and struggling students. They feel seen and valued by her,” said Rawlings principal Dr. Stella Arduser, in the press release. “She also helps educators see the brilliance in our children just like people throughout her life have done for her. She never saw or thought of herself as being disabled.”
Davis’s hardships were complicated by growing up in a single-parent household, but both she and her family kept fighting and today she is a success story and role model for the students and families whom she interacts with daily.
“I was in an ESE (Exceptional Student Education) class in elementary school, and I tell the students and their parents that being an ESE student doesn’t mean you can’t learn,” Davis said in the press release.” It just means you need extra help. I tell them I was there myself.”
Her family liaison position allows Davis to collaborate with the administration and staff to develop service plans and interventions for high-needs students and their families. Along with the wraparound services offered at school, Davis provides them with information on services available in the community and assists them in accessing those services. Her office is even stocked floor-to-ceiling with clothing, shoes, snacks and other donated supplies.
“My heart goes out to all children and families who are experiencing things like homelessness and hunger,” said Davis. “I try to make sure they have what they need, because I know what it’s like to go through some of those things.”
Her efforts include greeting students and family members every day, working alongside a student in the classroom who is struggling to understand a lesson, or calling parents if a child is absent to find out if there’s something they need to have that child in school.
“She goes above and beyond to make sure we reach and teach,” said Arduser. “This is her life’s work, and the troubles she faced since birth could not stop her from doing that work.”
Davis is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and her goal is to have her own classroom, where she can continue to make a difference in the lives of children.
Davis and 45 other outstanding ACPS employees will be recognized at the district’s annual School-Related Employee of the Year celebration on April 24. Davis, Arduser and other guests will speak, and all the honorees will be presented with gifts donated by the community.
https://www.mainstreetdailynews.com/education/acps-2025-school-related-employee-of-year