Mr. Malik Daniels has spent his whole career at Roxboro Elementary School starting in 2006 as a First Grade Teacher. Next, he taught as an English Language Arts (ELA) Title I Support Teacher before taking on his current assignment as a Second Grade Teacher in 2016.
He loves his job and truly enjoys making a positive difference in the lives of his students. He says there is nothing better than knowing he has “piqued a child’s interest in school or built a bridge in their learning that makes them feel good about themselves!” Mr. Daniels recognizes that learning can be challenging but he says “when the children in my classroom community are laughing or smiling, which is a daily occurrence, learning is lighter and more fun and that is pure joy and enjoyment for me as an educator!”
He has high praise for his colleagues at Rox El who he describes as thoughtful and dedicated. “Our students’ parents send their children to school knowing we will teach and interact with them as if they were our own children.” He says that staff members care deeply about the children and they “go above and beyond to make the children feel that Roxboro is their second home.”
He has had many amazing experiences in his 17 years of teaching but his most memorable moments are from student home visits. “When I am sitting at their kitchen table or on their porch or in their living room and the child shows me their favorite books, you can’t imagine how that changes my relationship with that child and their family. Children will never forget those visits and neither will I!” One of his former students said any student who finds out that Mr. Daniels will be their teacher should be “very excited!” This student liked when Mr. Daniels sang and when the class earned Friday Parties for doing their work. He said he was a good teacher especially “when he taught me to do my times (multiplication) because I had no idea how to do them before he taught me.”
Mr. Daniels comes from a family with two generations of educators; his sister, his uncle and cousins, and his most influential role models, his parents, were or currently are educators. His father, Dr. Ron Daniels, has taught at various institutions of higher learning including Cornell University, City University of New York, and Kent State University. His mother, Mrs. Mary Jane Daniels, M.Ed, taught elementary school and middle school in Warren City Schools. Mr. Daniels credits a visit to his mother’s classroom with sparking his interest in teaching. “I gave my first spelling test when I was with my mom when she taught third grade at Roosevelt Elementary School in Warren, Ohio and I was hooked!”
When he is not teaching, Mr. Daniels enjoys spending time with his family and learning new things by reading, traveling, and spending time outside in nature. “I love going to Pittsburgh and Los Angeles but my favorite place on earth is New York City!”
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