Tribute to Emadene Davidson

Do you remember your favorite teacher at PD?  Remember your favorite class? Now think about a class where the teacher taught you something that you still use today or that you used throughout your lifetime. Chances are you remember your PD typing class under Mrs Emadene Davidson.

I’ve got to admit that the only thing I took away from PD was the ability to type.  My dad made his entire living typing.  He typed railroad reports for his bosses.  He'd always tell me... "Doug, what ever you do in high school, learn how to type".  I did, and it served me well. I typed quite a bit in college, then going into my career profession I typed every working day.

I have Mrs Davidson to thank for not giving up on me during my struggles in learning to type. At the time I didn't know she was married to Davidson the wrestling coach... daaa.  

Below find some classmate remembrances of Emadene and some comments on the yearly FBLA trip to Dallas that she organized each year.

I loved (and still love) Mrs Emadene Davidson Gerhardt! I feel very privileged to be invited to add my contributions to support this well-earned tribute to her.

Emadene was totally inspirational to those of us who became engrossed with her amazing, supportive leadership skills. After graduating from PD, I majored in Business Education at Amarillo College because I admired her so.  

Upon graduating with my Bachelor’s degree, I was offered a position teaching at Amarillo College! I was so fortunate and lucky to work there. Emadene supported me as a reference on my resume. I was fortunate to be hired provisionally and told to move forward asap to earn my MBE degree. She continued to support me in my advanced course work through the following years and beyond! I was so blessed!

Throughout my career, I purposely modeled her leadership/mentoring skills and educational instructional styles. Eventually, Emadene moved from high school teaching to AC! We taught side-by-side for years in the AC Department of Office Education/Technology and Court Reporting. It was wonderful to become professional colleagues as well as close friends!

My AC career journey of 42 years eventually led me to become an Associate VP in college administration. My staff and I led a large division which included the AC Professional and Organizational Development, the AC Library, the Student Assistant Center and E-Learning. Many of those whom I hired, led and trained remain in leadership roles there. 

Emadene was my reason, my inspiration, my mentor, my dear colleague, and best of all….my dear friend! I learned so much from her! She was my “model.” 

She is so deserving of such recognition! Congratulations, Emadene! 

I don’t think I can really describe how much Ms Davidson impacted my life. She was my all-time favorite teacher. I loved taking typing classes from her and she taught me well. I eventually tested out at 88 pm without error, not bad huh.

Yes, I remember the FBLA trip to Dallas, I was on the Parliamentary team. During our event one judge counted us down because I did not speak much. Back then I was so bashful I was scared to say anything. I was the secretary of the team and thought my role was to just take notes.

And how could I forget the trip… I bought my wedding dress at Tiches on that trip! We all stayed in the Baker Hotel, wow what a place! I remember going out to eat at a Mexican food place near the hotel. I roomed with Debbie Brooch and Linda McCarty. I also remember when we got back home, as the buses were crossing over the freeway, we could see Amarillo High burning. It was very sad to see.

After typing class and PD graduation, I spent several years working for law firms as a word processing specialist. I got into supervision with one firm. They gave me the responsibility of managing their computer network, which consisted of 1 server and 37 PCs. Looking back, I’ve got to say that my interest in typing and technology all started in Ms Davidson’s typing and bookkeeping classes. She was a great teacher and I owe much of my professional career achievement to her,

more from Neva

I’ve destroyed too many brain cells since that FBLA event 55 years ago to remember many details..  but it was a great experience as I remember at the Baker Hotel in downtown Dallas, yes it was awesome. Emadene Davidson (Coach Davidson’s wife) was our sponsor.  I have to admit I had a big crush on her.  She was my typing and shorthand teacher and I loved those classes.

PD - Future Business Leaders of America

(click to enlarge)  

I ran across this story about FBLA... "PD - Future Business Leaders of America". I thought it might be something interesting on the web site so I contacted some of the people in the story.  

My goal was for them to describe this trip to Dallas, instead we all agreed that instead of describing the trip, we should pay homage to the lady that organized the yearly trip, so we created the tribute above to her.

As far as the trip is concerned... I was stunned!  Students in our class made a PAID trip to Dallas, how cool was that!

I can remember staying in a fancy hotel for the first time when I was probably 27 or so. I can only imagine the impression that trip and hotel stay must have made on north side PD high schoolers back then. I had no idea things like this were happening at PD.  Of course, back then there was a lot of stuff that got by me :)

Business Acknowledged in FBLA