All stories by Hayley Greene
Special to the Herald
Statesboro High: Kevin Davoid
Kevin Davoud, 18, is the son of Mohammad and Mahtab Davoud of Statesboro. His father is the founding dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing at Georgia Southern University, and his mother is a local real estate agent.
His father moved to Statesboro in 1988 to became an assistant professor at GSU. He originally immigrated to the United States in 1976, worked as a welder, and later obtained bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from Oklahoma State University and the University of South Carolina.
Born in 2003, Kevin is the youngest of the Davouds' two sons. His older brother, Sherwin, was valedictorian of Statesboro High’s Class of 2013. Statesboro has always been his home, and he attended Sallie Zetterower Elementary and Langston Chapel Middle School.
Kevin draws inspiration from his brother’s successes. Sherwin obtained a degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and went on to graduate from the Medical College of Georgia, and is now an anesthesia resident at Brigham & Women’s Hospital in Boston. After witnessing his brother’s high school valedictory speech, Kevin remembers that he then made it his No. 1 goal to achieve the same success.
“I wanted to try my best,” he said. “My parents are overjoyed and over the moon that their two sons have achieved high academically. My mom is at a loss for words.”
Kevin has been accepted to Emory, Georgia Tech, Augusta University and Columbia University. He’s chosen to attend Georgia Tech, where he plans to major in biology, and possibly pursue a career in oncology.
“As you go on with life, it leads you where you’re meant to be,” Kevin said. “I’m really looking forward to meeting people with my same interests, who are passionate about their fields of interest.”
Kevin values time with his family. In fact, for the past two years he’s enjoyed hitching rides to Savannah with his dad, when he traveled to GSU’s Armstrong campus. Kevin applied and was accepted into Memorial Medical Center’s volunteering program for teens. He gained valuable experience working 24 hours per week shadowing physicians, conducting patient surveys, and providing basic patient services.
His family also influenced his interest in medicine. When he was in ninth grade, cancer affected a close family member. Watching someone he loves very much struggle and endure pain and see the effects it had on the entire family led him to write two articles about the psychological effects of cancer.
Last summer Kevin participated in Emory University’s Summer Scholars Research Program. Funded by the Winship Cancer Institute, the non-paid internship program provides experiences for students to focus on oncology research.
This semester Kevin was one of only 50 students in Georgia who was chosen to participate in the University of Georgia's 46th annual Georgia Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. He was invited by science professionals to present his research, "Machine Learning for Predicting Sepsis in an Emergency Department” at the symposium. His research hypothesized a possible way to improve how patients are diagnosed with sepsis and other medical emergencies.
“Kevin Davoud is one of the most scientifically gifted students that I have had the opportunity to teach,” said Rich McCombs, an Environmental Science teacher at Statesboro High. “His research and development on the concepts of sepsis led him to win awards at the region and state levels, and he was selected to represent at the National Science Fair. He has also won several awards at the college level in several different categories which is an awesome achievement as a high school student.”
In addition to McCombs, Kevin noted that Thomas Miller, his Advanced Placement U.S. History teacher and Model United Nations adviser, his third grade teacher Marianna Voiselle, and his first grade teacher, Starr Anderson, are among his favorites.
“I first met Kevin when I took sponsorship of the Model U.N. program in 2018,” said Miller. “I could tell early on that Kevin would shine when I saw the dedication and focus with which he prepared. In both his sophomore and junior years, his team received honorable distinctions in the General Assembly section of the (Model U.N.) conference, and those points helped lead us (SHS) to a third place finish during his junior year out of roughly 50 schools present.”
While a student at Statesboro High, Kevin has also been involved with Science Olympiad, the Technology Student Association, and the school’s boys swimming team.
Southeast Bulloch High: Kai Owens
Kai Owens, 18, is resilient, determined, and willing to adapt. He is a nationally-sponsored skimboarder, a skilled drummer with multiple collegiate music admissions offers, the founder of his own philanthropy, a cast member of an international documentary film, a high school valedictorian and legally blind.
“It’s the way I was raised,” said Kai. “It’s my family’s attitude. My parents always said do your best, and my older brother Cash and I took that literally.”
In 2013, when Kai was 9 years old and in the fourth grade, he began to lose his eyesight. He was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa; however, that diagnosis was recently changed to ABCA4-linked Retinopathy. It’s is a rare form of macular degeneration that affects the retina and causes gradual vison loss.
Kai has night blindness. There are large areas of his vision where he sees only light. He has become adept at reading Braille, using a mobility cane and assistive technology, and he’s on the waiting list for a guide dog.
Sarah Bussey and Allison Joy Walker, who are contracted services teachers for the visually impaired for Bulloch County Schools through Allied Instructional, have been Kai’s teachers who assisted him with learning these skills.
“I enjoyed working with Kai and his family,” Bussey said. “I learned as much from him as he learned from me. I’m a very different teacher today because of him. We helped make sure Kai had the tools and skills he needed to be able to thrive and compete with his peers.”
In eighth grade, Bussey introduced Kai to her colleague, Joe Strechay, a very successful visually impaired teacher and television and film producer, who is an expert when it comes to accessibility and inclusion. He became a key mentor for Kai.
“Joe has really been a mentor to me through the years and really helped me,” Kai said.
Kai plans to attend the University of Georgia, major in Music Theory and drum set performance, and pursue a career as a professional musician. He received music scholarship offers from the prestigious Berklee College of Music and the City College of New York, but ultimately decided to remain in his home state.
“I bonded with music when I was younger. It brought me comfort as I began to lose my sight. I began playing drums in the fifth grade with private lessons, I played drums in middle school band, and I am part of the local music scene through Pladd Dot’s School of Rock. Metal music is my favorite, and it allows me to release emotions in a healthy manner.”
Kai is very thankful to the faculty and staff that have been his support system through the years, like Stephanie Mireles, who is Southeast Bulloch High School’s special education coordinator, Michelle Williams, who’s been his dedicated paraprofessional since sixth grade, and Danielle Hibbs-Heiser, his ninth grade Biology teacher.
“Ms. Williams has been the single biggest help to me out of anyone in the school,” Kai said. “She primarily prepares materials for me now, but she used to help me in class by reading text to me. Also Mrs. Hibbs-Heiser really helped show other teachers ways to properly accommodate visually impaired students. Coach Oliver, who was my ninth grade World History teacher, and Mr. Nick Thrower, my Advanced Placement English language Arts teacher, were also some of my favorite teachers.”
“Kai is so determined and driven,” said Mireles. “He just keeps working. There were times he’d work from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m straight., especially with college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT that were complex and had portions he had to read in Braille and portions that as proctors we read aloud to him.”
“As Kai’s freshmen honors biology teacher, I was privileged to witness firsthand how he could navigate and master the highly visual science of biology and work consistently and respectfully as part of a collaborative team,” said Hibbs-Heiser. “As his teacher, I, on more than one occasion, failed him. But instead of complaining he would communicate his issues to me directly and help to find a solution.”
“Kai is a fantastic student because he chooses to live an adventurous life,” said Thrower. “His experiences give him a strong world view, and an empathetic nature.”
His adventures include skateboarding, surfing, and skimboarding, a sport for which he has a national sponsorship from Exile Skimboards. He began picking up these sports at age 3. He later found ways to adapt independently, or attend special camps, like the Indo Jax Surf Charities’ surfing camps for the visually impaired. You’ll frequently find Kai honing his skills at Tybee Island.
“I’m the world’s only legally blind skimboarder. When I skimboard or surf, I know the beaches really well. I know how the waves break, or I have someone verbally guiding me from shore.”
A more recent adventure in Arizona led him to be part of a documentary film entitled, “See Sedona Blind.” The film is scheduled to premiere on June 14, at the Sedona International Film Festival, and is being considered for distribution on national streaming services. Kai was one of 12 visually impaired influencers in the film who hiked the Sedona area and documented their experiences.
Kai is an advocate for others with visual impairments. With the help of his family, he founded Kai’s Comforts which accepts donations of new, softly textured bedding items. When he was younger he discovered that these items helped ease his anxiety, especially at night, when he suffers from night blindness.
Over the past eight years, his philanthropy has collected and donated hundreds of items to the Georgia School for the Blind and other similar schools and centers in Georgia and other states.
Kai is the son of Chris and Kim Owens of Brooklet. He lives his life with #NoExcuses, a hashtag you’ll see frequently on his Instagram. He is very thankful for the support of his family, especially his mother, whom he credits with being his advocate to ensure he always has proper learning accommodations.
Portal High: Dylan Swisher
Dylan Swisher, 17, the son of Pete Swisher and Michelle Cannon, is the valedictorian of Portal Middle High School. He considers Portal a small, safe haven, where he was privileged to attend pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and build close friendships.
“I’m not the smartest student,” Dylan said. “I just maybe worked harder. Honestly, my best friend, Craig Fleming, could have been valedictorian. He’s going to be a cardiologist! He’s definitely smarter than me. But, my parents are over the moon. They pushed me because they knew that I could do it.”
Dylan is humble, but he has a strong focus on academics. He received the highest grade point average award every year from sixth through 12th grade except for seventh.
“If I had to give advice to other students who want to be valedictorian, I’d tell them to forget how hard it is and focus on how great the success will be. High school is as easy as it gets. It only gets harder from here, so work hard,” he said.
Dylan was a dual-enrolled student at Georgia Southern University during his junior and senior years of high school. He plans to remain close to home and even live at home while he pursues a degree in computer science at Georgia Southern.
“I was able to start on my non-core courses this year. I’ve always been interested in computers. As a valedictorian I was accepted to the University of Georgia, but I did not apply, but I do hope to possibly transfer there.”
Dylan’s going to miss the small environment of Portal. He’s enjoyed Beta Club and especially the golf team.
There are other faculty members whom Dylan remembers fondly like Huey Williams, who was his business pathway teacher, his Chemistry teacher, Clinton Thornberg, and Dennis Moore, his math teacher.
“I want to thank the teachers that I’ve been graced with throughout my school career,” Dylan remarked during his valedictory speech at Portal Middle High’s graduation ceremony.
Thornberg remembers Dylan as a confident student.
“One of my teaching techniques is trying to instill confidence in the students and get them to trust in themselves,” said Thornberg. “We work out many chemistry problems on the board, and when students give me answers, occasionally I will ask things like, ‘are you sure this is correct?’ Usually their answers are correct, and I use their hesitation or answer reversal as a teaching moment. This did not work on Dylan. He never faltered when I tested his resolve.”
Dylan’s math teacher also found him to be an excellent student who was engaged and motivated to learn.
“He was always willing to help his classmates,” said Moore. “On the lighter side, Dylan is also a diehard New England Patriots fan, so with myself being a diehard Atlanta Falcons fan, I will not miss the constant 28-3 Super Bowl reminders!”
Dylan told his fellow graduates at their graduation, “To some it might not seem like such a big deal, but I believe we’ve accomplished something remarkable. I want to acknowledge how lucky we are to have had a normal graduation. The 2020 graduates of Portal along with millions around the world did not have that opportunity.”
It’s clear that Dylan values the friendships he’s developed and wants to maintain those bonds.
“A lot of my best friends are going to Georgia Southern too, and I’m looking forward to progressing forward to this next stage of his life.”