Davy Meister
Martin Meylin Middle School
Lampeter, PA

"My school year is one-hundred-eighty-five days of watching 8th graders enjoy language arts by living it, experiencing it, and emerging knee-deep into waters that are teeming with lessons that hopefully the students will never forget."

"We all know the story of the ugly duckling, and how he eventually matures into a beautiful swan. Sadly, this does not always happen with people. Many ugly ducklings in this world are destined to lives of neglect and low self-esteem. However, if someone nurtures and inspires them, the potential of the swan inside will be exposed. This describes Mr. Meister, my eighth grade teacher, perfectly, because he is invested in the business of making ugly ducklings swans. Thanks to him, there is no limit to how far this swan will fly!"

In Davy's class students act as defense lawyers for the narrator in Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." They pay homage to Richard Rodgers by writing a modern version of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning"; get trapped in an elevator with Darth Vader and Joe Montana to learn how to use quotation marks; and relive the Golden Age of Radio by taping a George Burns/Gracie Allen-type comedy show complete with old-fashioned radio jingles. By participating in these projects and others, students learn not only by seeing and hearing, but by doing. They learn about punctuation by becoming human commas in sentences on banners. For every unit that Davy teaches, he believes he has not done his job if the students aren't fully engaged.

Other Highlights:

• Founded "Have Show, Will Travel," a student drama group that performs charity shows at area schools, libraries, senior centers, and churches, 2002
• Spearheaded "Operation: Dry Sock," a community-wide collection of 10,000 pairs of dry socks for NYC firemen at Ground Zero. Many of the socks were stuffed with notes, coins, or pictures of students, 2001
• Launched "Deed of the Week," a community outreach by Davy and his students where they each perform one good deed a week, 2001
• Started a middle school puppet troupe that deals with students in crisis and performs through the community to groups, 2001
• Started a radio station, W.A.K.E., a weekly show that introduces students to the basics of radio
• Founder and Producer of Pioneer Television, the school's closed circuit news station
• Started Reader's Theater Club devoted to the performance of the drama of reading
• Founded the Drama Department at the Middle School and directs and produces productions (over 30 in 15 years) for the middle and high schools combined. Many productions were dedicated to community charities, 1987-present
• Coached 3 different sports and current MS Boys' and Girls' Track Coach
• Radio announcer on weekends for a local Christian radio station
• Military and civilian journalist with more than 700 bi-lined published articles
• Certified lay minister in his church