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Share a memory of Kooper Davis. Schools in New Mexico partially reopened in February, after being mostly closed for nearly a year. I get the fear level, but we see models that show it can be done. No, I like it!. You are free to republish it so long as you do the following: Heather Davis comforts Madasyn Culver after a youth church service in Hobbs, New Mexico in late February. From Hobbs to the Texas towns of Seminole and Denver City is a half-hour drive next door, by the standards of the vast Southwestern plains. Kooper already had a highlight reel, and it included some nice-looking throws, but it was from his sophomore season on the junior varsity team. If high school teams arent playing football, there is no football being played. Lunch was still served in the cafeteria, but it never got crowded because many students went into town for lunch, at the McDonalds drive-through or elsewhere. . Meg Gleghorn, left, is a sophomore at Hobbs High School and has chosen to continue with remote learning, while many of her peers have opted to return to part-time in-person learning. When the pandemic swept through the country last year, Texas was quick to reopen schools while New Mexico shut down schools and sports. Theyve got so much time on their hands, he said. Over the course of the fall semester, about a dozen of the 70 staff members in the Denver City school missed time for quarantine, mostly after testing positive themselves, forcing the district to find substitutes no easy task, but not insurmountable. This memorial page is dedicated for family, friends and future generations to celebrate the life of their loved one. Stringent guidelines for reopening schools in New Mexico meant students in Hobbs have experienced the pandemic differently than students across the border in Texas. Kooper Davis's passing at the age of 17 on Monday, December 07, 2020 has been publicly announced by Chapel Of Hope in Hobbs, NM . As many of these experts have noted, the cost of restrictions on youth has gone beyond academics. 877-845-6272. But he also knew how adolescents had the natural tendency to magnify troubles. Its crazy to think that just down the road, theyre playing a football season theyre almost done with their football season. I asked if she thought school should have opened in the fall, and she hesitated. Students wore masks in the hallways and administrators did contact tracing for positive cases of coronavirus, but everything else went pretty much as usual, including sports. He is survived by his father and mother, Justin and Heather Davis, his biological mother Sarah, his sister Kynlee, sister Kharley, brother Kroy, and brother Kohen, brother Tayton and sister Emara, multiple grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, teachers, administrators, and coaches. Kooper Davis came across the border once with a friend to see a game in Levelland, northeast of Denver City, and another time with his father, Justin, to see a game in Seminole. I cant see them, I cant even hear them, she said. The overall per-capita case numbers in Lea County were slightly higher than the three counties across the border, while the case numbers in Texas were slightly higher than in New Mexico. So honestly when do we stand up for our kids?? Koopers teammates on the Hobbs High School football team. I knew he was pretty brave, but didnt know he was that brave, Sam said later. But the start of the school year arrived, and there was no school. Koopers grandmother, Cindi Federico, with Koopers 6-month-old brother, Kroy, and his cousin, Izaiah Chamberlain, 9. Hobbs wasnt even holding synchronous classes online for older high schoolers. Kooper Davis's passing at the age of 17 on Monday, December 07, 2020 has been publicly announced by Chapel Of Hope in Hobbs, NM .Legacy invites you to offer condolences and share memories of Kooper in For a while, Kooper went to do some of his schoolwork at the Starbucks near the local Walmart, just to get out of the house, but then it closed down again when state restrictions tightened further. Doctors are still uncertain whether children who survived that syndrome will experience long-term heart issues or other health problems. On the way back, hed pick up some Burger King breakfast for his two younger sisters, ages 11 and 5. Theres no reason parents should put up with any further delays. She had been writing and calling elected officials and state bureaucrats and finally, with the help of the local state senator, Gay Kernan, had gotten the state to provide some training for local teachers in recognizing youth mental health troubles. I have no doubt that God is not done using Kooper, he said. The smiles were jarring in the context of a memorial service until one remembered the broader context: It was the first time they had all gotten to be together since March. Its trash, said one, Kevin Melissa. KOOPER DAVIS OBITUARY. The next day, Coach Stevens gathered his players and assistant coaches in the team meeting room to discuss Koopers death. The younger one would ask why he couldnt get McDonalds, which she preferred, on the way back, and hed explain that traffic made it easier for him to do them in this order. It has been a difficult balance to strike, on both a societal and family level. But, he said, the current generation of kids are the people that are going to be running our country one day. Junior year was everything: He would be vying for the starting QB slot on varsity and taking a fistful of Advanced Placement courses. The next morning, Dec. 7, Kooper went to his Monday weightlifting session. On Oct. 16, Kooper shared a grim claim from a state representative on his Facebook account, which he seldom used: The New Mexico Athletic Association reports there have been 8 student-athlete suicides since March 20., Kooper looked so alone and hunched over as he worked that Heather one day posted a picture of him online to share his struggle with others. Lt. My biggest fear is, you pull the rug on these kids, he said. Kooper Davis came across the border once with a friend to see a game in Levelland, northeast of Denver City, and another time with his father, Justin, to see a game in Seminole. Kooper started heading off to quarterback camps and private training in Atlanta, New Orleans and Tucson, among other cities hoping to better his odds of getting to play in college, an aspiration that became more feasible as he sprouted to 6 feet, 4 inches tall, ideal for throwing over linemen, if only he could get his agility and coordination to catch up with his height. One of the few aspects of this terrible pandemic to be grateful for is that it has taken a vastly lesser toll on children and young adults than its major precursor of last century, the flu pandemic of 1918-1920. You know, marginalizing our teens for other people that are high-risk, what do you pick? Heather Davis' son, Kooper, died in December of last year, Southwest News Service (SWNS) reports. James parents said there were no obvious signs that their son was struggling. Allow us that opportunity.. Most notably, it gave local school districts leeway in deciding whether to open for in-person instruction in August, and in conservative West Texas, many districts seized the opportunity to do so, for all grades, all the way up through high school. The schools in Denver City, population 5,000, had shut down amid the coronavirus lockdowns in the spring of 2020, but there wasnt really any question about whether the 1,700-student district would reopen schools in the fall. Last summer the town was in the news when a despondent 11-year-old who had loved school and sports had killed himself. There are the brown highway signs alerting travelers to historical markers tucked away in the nearby scrub. There are the pump jacks scattered across the plains, nodding up and down with metronomic regularity. The initial response is not as difficult as something thats stressful, but over time, the anhedonia, the loss of pleasure, is going to drive you down a lot more., Even before the coronavirus arrived, teen mental health was a cause for growing concern. This confounded Hobbs school officials, especially because they could see open schools across the border in Texas. It was startling to pull into the high school parking lot and see dozens of teenagers strolling out of the school building, wearing masks and carrying backpacks, on their way to lunch. Justin and Heather told me how much comfort they were taking in the outpouring over Kooper, especially among his classmates. In the large band hall, the band director showed me the dots he had taped on the floor to keep the 70-odd musicians spaced 7.5 feet apart even as they marched, and the cloth covers that one students grandmother had made, decorated with the schools mustang logo, to go over the tubas, to keep them from emitting moisture. Kooper was very involved in and loved being part of his church family as well as being a Christian. I was there to meet with Coach Stevens, who had also been wracking his mind trying to think of clues he hadnt picked up from Kooper. Celeste Sloman is a photographer and director based in New York. Theyre going to be taking care of us one day, and this is how were treating them? He noted that one student at the October protest had carried a sign that read, Im able to vote in your next election.. Were losing their leadership. Go deeper Andrew Solender But they said they were thinking of all the other kids in another way, too. The parking lot was jammed with oversized pickups, and the sanctuary was standing room only. your email below for our complimentary daily grief messages. Coach Stevens got the news from the school principal that afternoon. (For example, yesterday can be changed to last week, and Portland, Ore. to Portland or here.), You cannot republish our photographs or illustrations without specific permission. He started playing organized football at age 5 and could not get enough of it. In New Mexico, Gov. He was an amazing big brother and had very close relationships with his younger siblings. The challenge was less the lack of money than the lack of people to administer it: the state education department has only a single behavorial health coordinator, Leslie Kelly, who was struck by the rising concern about youth suicide during the pandemic given that the problem had existed for years in New Mexico. Justin, as I would soon learn, is a large and taciturn man, but he was eager to talk, and urged me to come to New Mexico to learn more about what Kooper and his friends had been through. In August, they were allowed to hold practice sessions capped at nine players each not enough for a real practice, with offense running plays against defense, but better than the July sessions, which had been capped at five players. On my final day in Hobbs, I made the short drive across the Texas border to Denver City. how did kooper davis of hobbs die. Man, this sucks, he told his teammates. Initially, practices with up to 9 kids were allowed, which meant they could do some drills, but in October, the state reduced that to four students per coach. Browse Hobbs local obituaries on Legacy.com. This was a problem, because he loved both of them. We are sad to announce that on December 7, 2020 we had to say goodbye to Kooper Davis of Hobbs, New Mexico. Whats going on with those other kids?. Do we fear everyone coming back and possibly getting COVID, or do we fear losing another student more?. There were no friends to cajole, no teachers to charm. A growing body of evidence suggests that younger children are the least likely to transmit the virus, but that as children grow older, their capacity for transmission approaches that of adults. From the citys eastern edge to the Texas line is barely more than two miles. Heather came to the stage with Koopers sisters. But he knew he needed to work on his agility, which is one reason he took the practices so seriously. Later that day, he put up another Facebook post, his first since the one in October: With these tough times going around, I know there are many of those in need, and I want to give back to my community, he wrote. Speaking about the same . Two days later, the town learned of another life lost: an 18-year-old who had graduated from Hobbs High that spring took his life at a local park after receiving a medical discharge from the Navy. The only thing that I was able to find was in his journal was that he had wrote that he was going mad from staying at home all the time and that he just wanted to be able to go to school and play outside with his friends. And there are the astonishingly deluxe high school football stadiums. The bureaucratic oversight stunned her. Some precautions were taken, such as umpires calling balls and strikes from behind the mound instead of behind the catcher at home plate. Students could choose a virtual option, but only a few dozen of Denver Citys 492 high school students took it. For student-athletes aspiring to play in college, junior year is key. The district, which offered daily and weekly tallies of cases on its website, determined that the vast share of transmissions seemed to be happening outside school, as research was finding to be the case in other places, too. I want him to tickle the babies while I go eat, she said. Kooper was among the speakers, which surprised his friend Sam Kinney. On Oct. 9, Heather went on Facebook and posted a plea for reopening. Its not necessarily that youre experiencing abuse, though some may be. For more information about canonical metadata, You cant edit our material, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. Its about lockdowns and the teens who are struggling and sometimes unable to deal with it. Find service information, send flowers, and leave memories and thoughts in the Guestbook for your loved one. At the microphone, Kooper introduced himself, then said, I play football and basketball and those sports make up a big part of my life, and when Im not here every day doing something with those sports, honestly, I feel really lost in life. How come 10, 15 miles away, these kids can compete, can live a somewhat normal life?. Davis planned to put together a highlight real of his games which hed use to attract attention. It was unnerving to watch: lots of people, few masks, no windows. He grinned. The day after that, Wednesday, a fleet of empty school buses arrived at the high school from other towns, one from as far as Clovis, 130 miles away. Kooper was born in Hobbs NM on August 9, 2003 and spent his childhood in Lovington before moving to Hobbs with his family, Father Justin Davis, Mother Heather Davis and his younger siblings, where he was an honors student, athlete and student leader. Its honestly ridiculous. Kooper was born in Hobbs NM on August 9, 2003 and spent his childhood in Lovington before moving to Hobbs with his family, Father Justin Davis, Mother Heather Davis and his younger siblings, where he was an honors student, athlete and student leader. Koopers father, Justin, during an altar call at church in February. My last visit in Hobbs was to the home of Jennifer Espinoza, Koopers favorite teacher. He would be in school if he wasnt dead, she said. If you like our stories, mind sharing this with a friend? This had only been confirmed for her as she saw how poorly the remote learning was going: not only did most students leave their cameras off, some wouldnt even turn on their microphones. They eagerly did so, several dozen of them bunched together, beaming for the camera. He called you., When the service ended, people stayed on for a while to talk and hug each other. In the same week as Lujan Grisham announced her reopening plan, I made another check of the coronavirus toll in Hobbs Lea County. We know that participation in sports and a connection to school can have a profound protective effect., That social connection has been attenuated in the parts of the country that have largely shuttered school buildings and associated activities. Football at the teenage level differs from baseball in a crucial respect: It is based almost entirely around high schools, without a parallel universe of clubs and tournaments. New Mexicos response last year was the opposite. Its crazy to think that just down the road, theyre playing a football season theyre almost done with their football season. Kooper Davis could only watch from 30 miles away from New Mexico while the Texas teams played and the New Mexico teams did not. Now, here in July, we are seeing the rise of the so-called Delta variant strain of COVID-19. As the story points out, the junior year is critical for students hoping to get admission to a good school based on sports. As the pandemic carried through the summer, worrisome signals started appearing across the country. Katrina, a prenatal educator, had been trying for months to draw attention to the mental health needs of Hobbs young people. All rights reserved. When the youth minister at church once apologized for missing one of his high school games, Kooper reassured him that it was okay, that he did not depend on an audience: I play for myself, he said. Thanks for signing up. I know my kid isnt the only one hurting, she wrote. It had been a terrible month, and it had left her uncertain about the best course for the Hobbs schools and sports teams. When I entered her bungalow, Espinoza, a friendly woman in her 40s, said that I should feel welcome to take my mask off, because she had already been through a serious case of COVID-19, several weeks earlier.