Our LifeChanger of the Year educator recognition program has launched its awards season with surprise events in South Carolina and Texas.
Last week, Rev. James Davis in Ware Shoals, S.C., was revealed as a finalist for our Grand Prize. And this week a LifeChanger team traveled to Pharr, Texas, to surprise Olivia Benford as another Grand Prize Finalist.
The Rev. James Davis aboard his bus.
Rev. Davis is a bus driver and student mentor for the Ware Shoals School District 51, where he was nominated by his superintendent.
Part of the reason he’s in the running was evident in the support he received during the surprise event on Friday.
The school district helped National Life organize an event that included balloons, confetti and plenty of spirit.
Rev. Davis served in the U.S. Army after graduating from South Carolina State University and then worked as an addictions counselor before moving into the ministry.
In addition to driving a school bus, he has focused his Dunn Creek Baptist Church’s youth ministry on school success and high school graduation. Since he became involved, graduation rates have improved.
Olivia is the parental engagement director at Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District.
Olivia Benford.
She started the program four years ago and she has significantly increased the number of parents engaged in their child’s education.
The district provides parents with free education, regardless of home language or status. Olivia doesn’t only help parents; she helps students, too. Parents learn English to help their children with homework. They also learn to be role models for their children.
Both she and Rev. Davis are among the five finalists for this year’s grand prize, which will be awarded at our Conference of Champions in Bermuda in the middle of May.
As a finalist, they are in the running for a $10,000 cash prize that will be divided equally between the winner and their school.
The four remaining finalists will be identified at their own surprise ceremonies in the coming weeks.
Confetti cannons helped celebrate the Rev. James Davis.