First and foremost, I am an American. I am a member of the Palisades School District. I am a sports mom. I am a volunteer. I am a classroom mom. I am an advocate for all children. I was born a child affected by abuse, neglect and poverty. Because of the opportunities and support provided to me, I am now a corporate professional. I am a community leader. I have exactly what it takes to bring a diverse and important voice to the board.
When I moved to Springfield more than seven years ago, I was welcomed with open arms. I loved the small community that was here. I was offered fresh eggs, fresh milk, fresh cut flowers. I was welcomed by neighbors, local families that I met at the grocery store and the schools.
My son goes to Durham-Nockamixon Elementary School. I was so nervous. This was all new for both of us and being a single mom, I didn’t have people close to support me. I remember going to the kindergarten open house, feeling the tight knit community and knowing it was going to be okay.
We started attending Palisades High School football games that fall because my son, who was 6, was suddenly crazy for football. Two years later, I signed Logan up for Youth Football with Palisades Pirates.
That was our first experience meeting kids his age from Springfield Elementary and Tinicum. Kids and parents from three different elementary schools, the middle school and high school were working together. We were one community, and I knew I was home. It’s rare to have such a big community with such connection and closeness.
In June 2020, I organized a unity march in our beautiful town of Riegelsville. We had school board members who spoke and students who sang. I was so grateful for the help of state police, local churches, and small businesses that supported us. I felt that tight knit community. I had a very specific purpose for calling it a unity march – I wanted to show that despite our differences we could come together.
There were signs supporting Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter. As a result of that peaceful march, people in the community began to open up to me, tell me their stories and experiences within our community and our schools.
These stories inspired me to run for school board, I finally had a chance to give back to the community that had given my family so much.
Since making the decision to run for school board, I have heard so many things about myself that simply aren’t true. I would like nothing more than to have a conversation with every Springfield voter, but I am one person. Almost every conversation I have had ends with “Wow, I thought you were so different, what I heard about you was wrong.”
I am not a Marxist. I have friends and family who are police and serve in our military. I believe in equality for all people, and do not support in any way shaming people for their race. I do not want to change Palisades – I love Palisades just as it is.
You may stumble upon posts or hear stories of things I’ve said that you don’t agree with, that’s okay. We don’t have to agree on everything. The division in our community needs to stop. It is not healthy for our community, our country, and especially not healthy for our kids. That’s it, plain and simple.
I hope this statement provides some clarity on who I am as a person and a school board candidate. I never have, nor will I ever, push my beliefs onto others or our students. I want what’s best for our students, for all our students.
I support our community and I support our district.
Jamie Davis, Palisades School District
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