ROBYN DOXEY has been teaching school at Oak Hills Elementary for 40 years, with most of those years spent teaching third graders.
“I don’t know of anyone else who has stayed at the same school teaching for this long,” said Doxey. “I love the parent support here. I love the community feeling here. There are many families where I have taught all of the siblings. And every year I always have one or two students whose parents I taught, sometimes even both their parents.”
Another aspect of teaching Doxey loves is working with children.
“I love the interaction I get to have with the children. There is such joy in teaching them new things. Third grade is so important. They learn so many skills they’ll need for the rest of their lives,” she said.
She has taught those skills many, many times. Of her 40 years teaching, Doxey has taught third grade 35 times.
“It was never a conscious decision [to become a teacher],” said Doxey. “My two older sisters were both teachers, my uncle was a teacher and a principal, and my mother worked for the Utah State Board of Education.”
Doxey spent 22 years teaching full-time and has spent the last 18 years team teaching. She and her current co-teacher, Jean Dolling, have taught together for the past 11 years.
“I admire Robyn’s ability to be able to do this for 40 years and still love the kids and enjoy what she’s doing. She opens up a whole new world to the kids,” said Dolling.
Maureen Clark, who recently completed her student teaching with Doxey, said of her: “She is a loving and caring teacher and all the kids sense that. She wants them to succeed.”
Doxey has been recognized by the Davis School Board for her outstanding teaching and was the first teacher named to Oak Hills’ Hall of Fame, but she said her real reward for teaching comes from the emails, visits and hugs she gets from some of her former students—all 1,200 of them.
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