Even after working in the Presidential Hospital under Ronald Reagan and holding several medical positions through the area and while in the military, Denney Cecil says the most exciting and gratifying job he’s had is his current one at the elementary schools in Owensboro Public School district.
Known by the students at Foust, Sutton, and Hager as Mr. Denney, Cecil said he made the switch to working in schools after 28 years of professional emergency nursing across the country because “something in the universe lined up.”
He said that emergency nursing and surgery was his undeniable niche in the field, but when moving to the schools he had no idea how much the students would affect his daily life.
“I’m at this point in my life where I say ‘let’s ease on down,’ and time off was pretty valuable, which is what got me into it. But what it does for my soul keeps me coming back,” Cecil said. “I get to start every day off in assembly or greeting them at the door with hundreds of high fives a day, and there’s nothing like that.”
Cecil’s nursing career began in the Navy, where he was told he could work as a medic. Eventually, he was shipped out to San Diego, working for the busiest hospital on the West Coast: the Naval Medical Center — also called the Balboa Hospital. After that, his journey took him to the President’s Hospital in Washington D.C. under President Ronald Reagan.
“I remember [George H.W.] Bush was Vice President, and the biggest thing I got to do one day was man the security post for him one time coming through,” Cecil recalled.
While holding the door for the Vice President and feeling an adrenaline rush doing emergency work on military injuries gave him plenty of thrilling goosebumps, he said he’d still choose to work with the children if given a choice.
Much of his work isn’t spent behind the nurse’s desk. He, with the help of his nurse technicians at each school, is able to make rounds throughout the school and connect with the students in different ways. Some days that means giving high fives during lunch in the cafeteria; other days it may be judging a coloring contest in a class or just educating the students on what being a nurse or a veteran means.
But once a call comes in from one of his nurse techs, Cecil eagerly hops on one of his four motorcycles. He cycles through them throughout the week, but Cecil’s ride of choice is his Harley Davidson Heritage Softail Classic.
Regardless of what school he’s riding to, Cecil said it’s very often that the students stop their playground activities to run to the fence to greet him on the way to the scene.
“The best is when you can come in from the back parking lot and the kids are out there and they’re just screaming ‘Hey Mr. Denney!’ and they’ll run from the playground to the fence, especially the little ones,” Cecil said.
Those moments are what he strives for with the students. He said he’s often called Mr. Denney simply because it’s more personalized and it creates a memorable relationship with the students. Often, he talks about mental health with the students and enables them to showcase and communicate their emotions. By allowing that first-name connection, Cecil said it makes the children more apt to have those conversations.
“Looking at life through these kids’ eyes, you can learn so much, and not just from keeping it simple. I mean it’s grounded in reality when you have a reason to be happy every day,” he said.
All in all, he said the past 3 years can be summed up in one word: priceless.
“I’ve been blessed all through my career,” he said. “I’ve been very blessed. I’ve loved everything I’ve done and I couldn’t believe the next step would be as rewarding as the next.”
