Yvonne Davis has a small blue beaded and leather decoration hanging in her office, a gift from a student in her first teaching position at Puntzi Mountain.
In the small school, a student who had struggled found his footing during her time as the school's Grade 4 to 7 teacher, and the small decorative piece he gifted her all those years ago is still with her.
The object serves as a reminder of the importance of not giving up on students and illustrates just how deeply Davis feels about supporting each student's success.
"I'm very passionate about teaching," she said.
She was a self-described "city girl" when she got her first teaching role at the two-teacher school in the remote community of Puntzi Mountain on the Chilcotin Plateau.
Having responded to an ad in the newspaper, the newly certified teacher headed to Puntzi Mountain in January of 1996 to begin a career which would see the "city girl' become a leader in rural education over the ensuing years.
It is impressive she stayed in the area after moving from Burnaby as a young, single woman to Puntzi Mountain, one of the coldest and quietest spots in the province and arriving at a time of year when the area is at its coldest and darkest.
But Davis survived and thrived, and while she had dismissed teasing from locals about how teachers meet husbands and stay, she met Mike and fell prey to the very same pattern herself. The couple were married in 1998.
With a passion for the outdoors, it makes sense she enjoyed her time in the Chilcotin, with her outdoorsy partner and working as a teacher in a number of communities out west, including Tsideldel, Alexis Creek, Tatla Lake and Anahim Lake.
She and Mike helped his family operate Puntzi Lake Resort for many years, and with their first two children, they would spend part of their winter on the Mexican Baja, fishing and recharging after the resort was closed.
"It was amazing, what a lifestyle," she said of the time they helped with the resort.
After their third child, they stopped going away for as long, but they still enjoy Mexico. Photos of the entire family under the Mexican sun brighten Davis' office space.
Now a seasoned administrator, Davis remembers envisioning herself as a teacher by the time she was in Grade 3.
"I always knew," she said of her calling to the profession, which she said has the multiple benefits of being different every day and which enables her to spend time with young people.
The care she has for students is clear.
Davis believes the real way teachers make an impact is not in trying to force learning of certain materials on their students, but by meeting them where they're at and ensuring the materials are engaging.
"They're going to remember how you made them feel, not what you taught them," she said, citing some of her own past teachers as examples.
Even today, as a vice principal, Davis gets to spend some time teaching, which she said helps keep her in touch with classroom realities.
"It is a complex job," she said of being an administrator, trying to balance managerial, educational and operational duties. In her free time, Davis skis downhill and cross-country, spends time at the family cabin, kayaks, hikes and paints.
But how she has free time might be the real question, with five children of her own, fostering children and billeting children from out west. She and Mike are the parents of Gina, Carmen, Ian, Bella and Roman and now the grandparents of Raia.
With only two children left at home with her, they also currently have a baby they're helping take care of, less than six months old.
She said she and her husband have helped raise 25 different children over the years.
She credits Mike with making this possible, as she continued to further her career at the same time, supporting youth along the way.
