Copyright M Live Michigan
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A temporary job turned into a full-time career for Damon Travis, an itinerant teacher in Kalamazoo’s pre-kindergarten early-education program (PEEP) and Early Childhood Special Education program (ECSE). He’s one of few male teachers in early-education. Only 3% of teachers in early-education are men, according to the American Institute for Boys and Men. Even fewer are men of color, like Travis. Travis originally wanted to work in finance. But while working as a paraprofessional, he fell in love with early childhood education. Now as an itinerant teacher, he splits time working at Arcadia Elementary School, Greenwood Elementary School, Milwood Elementary School and Lincoln International Studies School teaching once a week in PEEP and ECSE classes. After a pivotal experience helping a student in the lunchroom, he knew he wanted to continue working around kids. He was trying to prevent a 3-year-old from stealing other people’s lunches. He sat right next for awhile — until a plastic fork flew past him. As soon as he leaned down to pick up the fork, the girl grabbed another student’s food. “I just got duped by a 3-year-old and I laughed so hard,” Travis said. “Physically, I’d be exhausted, but every day, I couldn’t wait to come in the next day to see, ‘What would they do?’” Travis credits his success to being a big kid at heart. “I have two kids at home that help keep me young,” Travis said. Travis said he tries to approach student interactions from the student perspective. “Whenever approaching a student that’s upset, (I ask the student) ‘Hey, read my face. How do I feel?’” He also tries to keep students engaged and having fun. “I’m in competition with YouTube, I’m in competition with Roblox. I’m in competition with all these things,” Travis said. “Once they want to be here, the doors open up for everything else.” Travis has two helpers to keep students engaged: Pickle Pete the stuffed pickle and BoBo the Speaker, a small blue speaker. Travis asks students to count the ears Pickle Pete has on his body. He’ll also have students tell Pickle Pete someone they played with or someone who was kind to them. Bobo the Speaker helps Travis sing, he tells students. When Bobo isn’t playing music, he’s sleeping, Travis said. Now, students treat Travis Bobo the Speaker and Pickle Pete like they are another student or teacher. “So much of the things that I use now, many of those moments were just spur of the moment, and it seemed to get their interest,” Travis said. “If I see an in, I’m gonna use it to my advantage as best I can.” When Travis sees others who may be good candidates for teaching, he encourages them to get involved in the classroom. “If I find a male that seems to have that interest, I’m in his ear,” Travis said. But he’s not just trying to recruit men to pursue teaching. “We just need people that are passionate about kids,” Travis said. “That’s (what’s) most important.”
