Mr. Jay Cox was recently honored as the Decatur County District Teacher of the Month for November after being selected as the Riverside High School Teacher of the Month. We recently sat down with Mr. Jay to discuss his career as an educator. Mr. Cox is not a Decatur County native, but it seems as if he has always been here.
Mr. Cox earned his BA in British and American Literature at Pacific Union College and his Teaching Credential program through California State, Stanislaus, and Pacific Union College. He completed his Master’s degree in Literature and Writing from Union Institue and University. Mr. Jay has been teaching for 17 years and has taught in both private and public schools, inner city and rural. He has taught all grades of high school English, yearbook, journalism, and a college prep elective called AVID.
When asked about his favorite thing about teaching, he replied, “My favorite thing about teaching is building positive relationships with my students. I enjoy watching my students grow and celebrating their successes and helping them through difficult times. Pushing my students to do well academically is important to me. Of course I want my students to learn, have a strong academic foundation, and an appreciation for good literature. But sometimes, I think it is just as important for them to know that there is an adult who isn’t family who thinks they are important and wants them to succeed.”
On the other hand, when asked about the biggest challenge in his profession he said, “how to motivate a student who doesn’t seem to care. Most students are curious and want to learn something, but when a student has made the decision to shut down it is hard to engage with them. I do my best to try to build a relationship with those students so that maybe they’ll engage with me, if not subject. It doesn’t always work. Sometimes it feels like I’m fighting a losing battle, but then a former student will text or find me on social media and tell me that I made a difference in their lives. That makes the challenges worth the struggle.”
Mr. Cox has a two fold philosophy of education. “From a pedagogical perspective, I admire Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Bloom’s Taxonomy, and Costa’s Levels of Thinking and Questioning. Each of those philosophies of education contributes to how I conduct my classes. Students need to know they are safe and cared for in order for learning to occur. Basically, I want my students to know that they are safe and cared for in my classroom. I also want them to realize that I have high expectations for them in my class and I want to help them meet and exceed those expectations. That said, students have to be willing to put forth effort. School isn’t just about academics, it is also about building a solid work ethic. I think sometimes students don’t see that how they act/work in school may translate to how they act/work in the workforce. Part of school is learning to do things that aren’t always fun, but need to be done to the best of one’s ability anyway.”
Jay is in his second year in Decatur County and we were curious why he chose here to live and teach. “Family is really important to me. A little over ten years ago, my sister, Amy Taylor, came out this way doing traveling Speech Pathology. She met a local guy, Bruce Taylor, got married and had a whole mess of kids. My parents came out here to be closer to the grandkids and my wife (Jenni) and I followed. I lucked out getting a job with Riverside. It’s such a great school, there are so many good things happening here; and the members of the Decatur County community have been so welcoming to this outsider. I’m so glad my sister brought the whole family to the area.”
Mr. Jay Cox is a phenomenal asset to our students in Decatur County and is one of the most supportive staff members of our students. Whether it’s a football game, concert, play, or fund raiser, you can usually find Mr. Jay there cheering on the students of Decatur County. We are so proud that educators like Jay Cox choose Decatur County to live and work!