Havasu man switches careers from grocery stores to schools

Some of David Cox’s third-grade students at Jamaica Elementary School were already familiar with his face before they even stepped in his classroom. They’d seen him plenty of times, behind a cash register at Safeway.

After 31 years in grocery stores, Cox took his place full time before a classroom of elementary school students this year.

It wasn’t exactly a sudden career change.

Cox, 49, knew long ago that he wouldn’t be able to withstand the physical demands of the grocery business until he was retirement age.

He’d coached for years with Little League and Parks & Recreation. As he cast around for a new career, he said it was that experience that “showed me what I really wanted to be doing.

“The joy that I got from coaching the children was the catalyst that sent me back to school to become a school teacher,” he said. “I got such pleasure from coaching those little kids, it was unbelievable.”

At age 40, Cox entered the Mohave Community College/Northern Arizona University elementary education program. Eight years of school — while he worked full time and raised three sons with his wife, Janice — and student teaching followed. He credits his mentor, fellow Jamaica third-grade teacher Stephanie McCorkle, with making his transition to the classroom “pretty seamless.”

When he finally took his place in front of his own class, he felt prepared.

“I was a little nervous at first. But I think they were as nervous as I was. Many of them had never had a man teacher before,” Cox said.

That steadiness is evident in his teaching style, which is both firm and easy going. During a math test Monday, there was an atmosphere of calm orderliness as Cox moved around the classroom quietly speaking to students who needed extra help.

“He’s a natural,” Principal Paula Levensailor said. “He fit in so well at our school. He has a very low-key approach. He never gets flustered — or if he does, he doesn’t show it. You would just never know he was a brand new teacher.”

Cox said his age and life experience helped him make the transition to the classroom and be an effective as a teacher. Coaching may have been the best preparation of all, he said, recalling one T-ball player who hit the ball and ran to third base.

“Walking into the classroom, I was already prepared for the failure experience, and sometimes you get that,” he said. “You see (the students) just didn’t get that at all, and you have to go back and teach it again differently.”

You may contact the reporter at dparker@havasunews.com.