Graduate Accepts Teaching Position at Great Hearts Academies

Like other top schools, King’s offers a rigorous Christian education with a focus on critical thinking and persuasiveness. But education at King’s is different. What happens in the classroom quickly bleeds out into the many opportunities around the globe. Ray Davison, a graduating senior in the House of Sir Winston Churchill, recently landed a job as a teaching apprentice at Archway Veritas, a Great Hearts Academy located in Phoenix, Arizona. In the Q&A below, he describes his journey and how his education at King’s contributed to him landing this opportunity.

Q. Tell us a bit about where you are from.

A. I am from the Northeast; was born in Scranton, moved to South Jersey when I was one, and moved to Maryland when I was eleven. Think 70 mile radius around Philadelphia, and that’s my territory. I was homeschooled till the sixth grade, went to a homeschool co-op 7th through 9th grade, and then graduated from Tall Oaks Classical School. My hobbies growing up were reading and educational computer games.

Q. What brought you to King’s?

A. I wanted to attend a small school where I could know everybody. I wanted to go to a conservative Christian college. My entire life has been under the aegis of the church, in one way or another. I needed to learn how to speak outside the confines of Christendom’s remnant. My decision came down to King’s or Patrick Henry College in Virginia. PHC seems to do a tremendous job of outfitting political operatives according to the current conception of American conservativism in the terms of the Republican Party. I may be a registered Republican, but the political comes after the civilizational. I chose King’s because I wanted to meet liberals, atheists, agnostics. As silly as it sounds now, things worked out. I’d come to King’s again, though the reasons seem to change a little bit each semester.

Q. Tell us a little bit about how you got the teaching job in Arizona. When did you get the job offer, and what will your responsibilities be?

A. I got the job offer after a teaching demo at Archway Veritas, the flagship elementary school in Phoenix. For the demo, I delivered a lesson on the founding of the English Colonies. Admittedly, it was not my best performance. The major concern of the headmasters was an ability to take criticism and grow as a teacher, and an ability to engage with the kids. These kids exude enthusiasm, and it was a pleasure to keep up with them.

My responsibilities as a teaching apprentice will be to absorb as much of the ethos of good teaching from my lead teacher as I can. By Christmas, I’ll be responsible for a few subjects myself, and by next year, I should have my own classroom.

Q. Do you have any plans for the long term future? 

A. My plans for the long term future all lie in academia. I’ve devoted my life to the pursuit of wisdom, and the dissemination of wisdom however I can. I hope to be inside the Great Hearts way for a few years. After I’ve earned a master’s degree, I’ll see what becomes available.

Q. What components of the King’s education were most important to you getting this opportunity?

A. What does the King’s education do? The King’s education makes you stand and be counted. We talk a lot about strategic institutions, but maybe the King’s focus is reclaiming every institution as strategic. President Mills often speaks on the “Theology of Work,” the dignity of a job well done, and the grace that a simple business can be in a man’s life. See, an education is not just the classroom, but the spirit of the place. The spirit of King’s has taught me that the Good is worth the striving. The King’s education has showed me that the Beautiful is worth finding, and making. The components of the King’s education are true; it’s the assembly that’s a little tricky.

Where does that fit in with the opportunity to teach at Archway Veritas? I was hired for my character, and for the data I’ve accrued over the years. King’s made my character, and the Lord provided the data.