Teamwork - the hallmark of the Davis family
Published:Thursday | August 23, 2018 | 12:00 AMShanna kaye Monteith/ Gleaner Writer
Teamwork makes the dream work, and it is with this in mind that the Davis family is ready to take on and ultimately champion whatever comes their way.
With daddy Christopher Davis Sr as the head provider and mommy Zealah-May Berry-Davis as the fuel, the family of five is poised for greatness.
"My main function is to make sure everybody is OK and taken care of properly. Anything they need, I work to get it and give them, and even if I can't give them in full, I try and do my best. The most important thing is that they aren't hungry and they can go to school," Davis said.
With 19-year-old Christopher Jr a 12-year-old Zakayla, and the sweetheart of the family, four-year-old, Zoya, all doing well at their various levels of education, both parents beamed with pride.
According to Davis Sr: "They make me proud and mek me feel like mi fi try more and push harder fi mek them get everything that they require to move on to the next level."
The father told Family & Religion that unity is a big part of their household and that he tries his best to instil reliance on one another as best as possible, assuring his children that sticking together is the best way in life.
Naming herself the main motivator and engine of the family, his wife, Berry-Davis endorsed his message.
She stressed the importance of supporting your children's dreams for themselves even when you, as a parent, had other plans for their lives.
"As a mother, I identify what it is that they are good at and what it is that they love and find ways in which I can nurture or help them to develop it.
"For example, I wasn't very happy with my son's subject choices, which included technical drawing and so on. I wanted him to choose the sciences and become a doctor. I wasn't sure where he was heading, and it worried me. But one day, Christopher sat me down and reminded me of the educational motto that I repeat to them over and over: 'If you're going to be the bag juice man, you going to have to have a degree in bag-juice making.'
"When he reminded me of that I said, 'OK, which direction are we going with these subjects?' and he said, 'engineering'. Today, Christopher is pursuing a degree in industrial technology at UTech under a government scholarship," she said, adding that the same values are being instilled in his younger sisters.
Zakayla, the 12-year-old, recently clocked a 96.6 per cent average in the GSAT exams, earning herself a scholarship from the Jamaica Private Power Company.
She will be attending the Immaculate Conception High School come September.
When asked what she believes to be the most unique thing about their family, Berry-Davis noted their hunger for betterment and achieving their maximum potential.
"I always tell them that when one person fails, then everybody fails. So if it's GSAT time, then we all are studying. So as Daddy said earlier, it's teamwork. We're all links in a chain, and everybody has to take their part of the chain very seriously so it can stay together and remain strong," she said.