Intense rain steadily pours outside the office windows and the National Weather Service announces a tornado warning on the desktop radio. Principal Jack Davern gets on the school's announcement system in a friendly, calming voice and prompts teachers and students to begin a tornado drill.
A young student walks uneasily into the front office and asks if everything will be OK. Phones are ringing off the hook, teachers are coming into the office and Davern has a meeting to finish, but he takes the time to reassure the boy that the tornado warning will be lifted soon and his teachers will keep him safe.
Jack Davern has been principal at Elon Elementary since July, and he has already made his mark as a leader who is willing to sacrifice much of his time for his students' success. He has big plans for the home of the Little Phoenix.
He was once a Phoenix himself – or a "relative" to the Elon Phoenix, as he called it. After graduating from Edinboro University in Pennsylvania with a degree in elementary education, he then received his Master's in Education from the University of Phoenix.
Davern said after graduating college, he and his wife Janice, also a teacher, moved to Scotland County to pursue their teaching careers.
"North Carolina was far from where we lived," Davern said. "But we wanted to come here because the state was doing a lot of good initiatives in education and it was appealing to us professionally."
Davern worked in the Scotland County public school system for 16 years, serving as a fourth grade teacher and a curriculum facilitator who worked with school planning and teacher relations.
Davern was most recently a principal at Shaw Elementary prior to seeking a position at Elon Elementary this past spring. His wife and three children — one in elementary school, one in middle school and one in high school — made the move two hours away to Elon earlier this summer, and he officially assumed his duties as principal July 1.
"I'm thoroughly enjoying it," Davern said. "My favorite part — it's the people. There's a strong desire in everyone here to do what's right for kids and I love it. It makes my job better because of that."
Davern said there is undoubtedly a large amount of administrative work that can add up, but only when students leave for the day does he spend most of his time taking care of what he calls the "paper aspect" of his job.
During school hours, he enjoys making daily pit stops by classes, even if it's just to say hello.
"I try to walk through the halls during the day so students see me and know who I am," he said. "Chatting with students every day, checking up on the occasional broken arm, walking through the cafeteria, it all gives me the opportunity to know them on a deeper level."
Part of Davern's commitment to providing the best environment for his students are his goals to improve Elon Elementary's available technology.
"We have fairly good technology," he said. "But we're behind with some of our counterparts."
In a recently approved two-year $160,000 plan, the school will implement more SMARTBoards, introduce iPads and kick start more Web-based learning programs, such as BrainPOP.
Another goal Davern has for Elon Elementary is its commitment to learning through immersion.
The school currently has a Spanish immersion program for kindergarten through third grade students and plans to extend it to fourth and fifth grades in the next two years. In the all-day immersion classes, teachers instruct students only in Spanish.
"When instructional and conversational Spanish is used, it's branching out to increase understanding," he said.
Elon Elementary's immersion and other programs also involve the neighboring Elon University community. Elon students come to the elementary school to serve as Spanish tutors, members of the Lunch Buddies peer mentoring program and America Reads math and reading tutors.
Davern said it is very helpful to have Elon students nearby to assist wherever they are needed, and he hopes to continue to create more initiatives with Elon students in the next few years.
"People tend to think, 'you've gotten in touch with the university's education department, right?'" he said. "But we can learn even more from places like the biology and physical therapy departments. We want to make connections to almost every department at the university."
Davern is excited for things to come during his time at Elon Elementary, and he said he will practice consistency in his day-to-day life as principal.
"I strive to be tuned in to what's going on with day-to-day activities," he said. "And I want students to know that school's always a safe place. In my position, you can really see the value and the impact that can be made"