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Jessica Davis, the Minnesota native who sang the national anthem on Night 3 of the DNC, is a mathematics teacher in the Twin Cities metro area who has been celebrated as a dedicated educator.
Davis has taught advanced algebra to juniors and seniors at South St. Paul Secondary School. In 2019, she was chosen as the 2019 Minnesota Teacher of the Year, an award that is given through Education Minnesota, the state teachers' union that consists of 86,000 members.
In accepting the award, Davis emphasized the importance of celebrating diversity and representation in the classroom.
"Representation matters. It's important to see yourself in who's at the front of the classroom, in your literature, in your writings. It's important to see yourself doing things that are important, that are giving back to the community," she said. "It is important for our students to see that they have a place in this community, and until they see those faces also doing it, it's hard for them to imagine themselves in that spot."
But Davis wasn't always intent on becoming a teacher. She majored in biology and received a minor in chemistry, with plans to become a doctor. But when she got a job at the William Mitchell School of Law, she realized her passion for education.
"That was really where I discovered that education is my thing — I'm good at navigating school, and I can help people," she said, as reported by Minnesota Public Radio's Peter Cox.
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