Dorothy Travis-Moore remembers being chastised for being afraid of seeing snakes out in the fields near the Buckeye community.
“Finally my mother said, ‘Girl you better go to college and get a good job ‘cause I can see that you will never make it in the field,’” the Greenwood native said.
With her mother’s advice ringing in her ears, Travis-Moore diligently pursued an education: She earned a bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and a doctorate.
And as founder and president of a private school, Travis Academy, she is now helping at risk students in Milwaukee, Wis. succeed academically.
“My mother told me she wanted me to do more than wipe my feet on the doormat of a university,” Travis-Moore said. “I think I have definitely done more than that.”
From a school with only one student in 1996 to more than 800 for the 2009-2010 school year, Travis-Moore admits that it has been a long and sometimes hard road. She credits her success to her Mississippi upbringing and faith.
Travis-Moore, daughter of Ceria and Sam Travis, lived in Greenwood until she was in the ninth grade.
“It was amazing, we didn’t have a lot of a platform in those days,” Travis-Moore said. “But my parents, who had so little, helped us build so much character.”
She would have to rely on that character strength as her family packed up their life to move to Wisconsin.
Picked on by her peers for having a Southern accent while going to school in the North, the country girl from Mississippi shined in her academics during school, but she had no intention of going into education.
She began her professional career as a counselor at a residential treatment center, but she could not keep herself away from children.
When she moved to Sacramento, Calif., her church members recognized her ability to work with the youth and recommended she apply for a job within a local school system.
“I had worked with children who others had not wanted to work with,” Travis-Moore said.
She remembers one very specific girl who had gotten into drugs and went up to the roof to commit suicide.
“I followed her up there to talk,” Travis-Moore said. “She could have pulled me down with her, but I knew she was capable of more.”
Travis-Moore talked the young woman down off the roof that day.
Despite not having a teaching degree, her career in education began because the school needed someone who wanted to work with at-risk students such as gang leaders, students who had been involved in murders and drug dealers.
“In any case, I believe all children want the same thing,” Travis-Moore said. “They want to be loved, nurtured and know that you care.”
She has kept caring since she stepped into the classroom 35 years ago.
A veteran educator, Travis-Moore has worked in schools in four states and overseas, but it has been in Milwaukee where she has seen the greatest impact.
“When I get to heaven, I am going to ask God why this was my assignment,” Travis-Moore said. “Whatever the reason, I know it was my calling and that cannot be escaped.“
In 1981, Travis-Moore returned to Milwaukee as her mother’s health declined and ended up staying.
After working for the public school district for 17 years, she also could not escape the feeling that some students could not learn in a regular classroom setting.
Again, it was words of wisdom from her mother that inspired her to take a leap of faith to begin a school for those students.
“She asked me, ‘How do you want to make a difference in this world?’” Travis-Moore said.
Although she was in education, Travis-Moore didn’t know where to begin when it came to starting a school so she asked for help from the deacons of her church.
“It was a great faith walk,” Travis-Moore said. “I didn’t know how I was going to get paid but that I was going to do it.”
She admits to being scared but in November 1996 she opened the doors of Ceria M. Travis Academy, named after her mother, to its first student.
By the end of the first year, the school had 30 students and it grew from there.
“I had schools and parents calling me from across the city,” Travis-Moore said. “I don’t choose the students; they choose me.”
The school was designed to address the needs of urban students and provide a positive and supportive environment so they could learn and excel.
“For many students, Travis Academy offers a new beginning, a chance to start over,” Travis-Moore said.
Under her watchful eye and dynamic leadership, the school has grown from an all-boys middle school to a co-ed, kindergarten through senior high school.
“Those students who were failing — not coming to school or kicked out — want to be in school now,” Travis-Moore said. “We are a family that trusts each other and wants to be the best for each other.”
Travis-Moore has so many success stories, including a student working on Wall Street, because of the hard work and dedication that the faculty and staff have given to the academy, she said.
She is hoping to bring her passion for education to inspire the people of Mississippi.
She returns annually to recruit future educators from Mississippi Valley State University and offer them teaching positions at Travis Academy.
“It is a great opportunity for our students at the academy and students from Valley who are looking for a foot in the door,” Travis-Moore said.
