After 39 years of working in the offices of Southern Lehigh High School, administrative assistant Mrs. Melody Davis will retire at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. In her time at the high school, she has helped keep things running in both the main office and the counseling office. As a 1976 Southern Lehigh graduate herself, she has always had a strong connection with the school district and the area.
Mrs. Davis first felt drawn to work in education when she was very young. She often played librarian and imagined herself in a school. More than that, she has always known she wanted a career rooted in connecting with others and mentoring students.
“I think I was led to be helpful to people,” said Mrs. Davis. “I’ve always worked hard to help people, so that’s always been my passion.”
Although working in education has not come without its challenges, Mrs. Davis believes her career has helped shape her as a person. She has seen the strength of the people that work around her and does not believe the job could get done without their unique compassion and drive.
“Working in education has helped me become more empathetic. I need to have a lot of empathy in this job,” Mrs. Davis said, “I’ve always said, since I started here, it takes a special person to work in a school, whether it’s a teacher or custodian, it doesn’t matter what job you hold.”
Above all else, Mrs. Davis will miss getting to see her students develop their personalities and build confidence over the years.
“You know there [are] some students that hold a special place in your heart,” she said, “but [I’ll miss] just watching the students grow from year to year.”
Mrs. Davis is also astounded at how the Southern Lehigh School District has developed since she initially moved to the area in fourth grade. She remembers a time when the school was surrounded by farmland, and her classmates would leave after school to go hunting. She finds it remarkable to see how the area has changed in the time she has lived here. Still, Mrs. Davis is grateful that Southern Lehigh has remained a close-knit community after all these years. Its small nature has made her job in education easier, as she can focus on a smaller group of students.
During retirement, Mrs. Davis is excited to have more time to spend with her husband and her adorable pug Onyx. Both she and her husband are retiring at the same time, so they plan to start new hobbies together. Her husband plans on starting his own greenhouse, and Mrs. Davis looks forward to using fresh vegetables from the garden at dinner.
Although she will miss her fellow coworkers and students, she is excited for the new opportunities retirement will bring, namely spending time with her family and traveling the country. Mrs. Davis and her husband look forward to visiting family in her hometown in Vermont, in addition to other family members in Florida.
As Mrs. Davis leaves the SLHS community behind, she hopes that her fellow staff members and students remember her for her kindness. She leaves them with a simple yet impactful piece of advice:
“Do your best, and be kind.”
