Congratulations to Betty Davila for being this year's Paraprofessional of the Year for Everman Academy HS. We are fortunate to have her here helping our students succeed!
Nashville, Tennessee, 1930.
Vivien Thomas was born into the Jim Crow South. He was Black in a world that told him what he could and could not become.
He wanted to be a doctor.
He worked as a carpenter and saved every dollar to attend the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College. He planned to go to medical school.
Then the Great Depression hit.
The bank where he kept his savings collapsed. His money was gone. So were his plans.
At 19, Vivien took a job at Vanderbilt University Hospital. He earned 12 dollars a week as a laboratory assistant. He worked in the lab of Dr. Alfred Blalock.
He was expected to clean, care for animals, and stay quiet.
Instead, he watched.
He listened.
He asked smart questions.
He understood what the experiments were trying to do.
Dr. Blalock noticed. He began teaching Vivien surgical skills.
Vivien had never been to medical school. He had no degree. But he had sharp eyes, a strong memory, and steady hands. Soon, he was performing complex surgeries on lab animals. His stitching was careful and exact. His knowledge of anatomy was deep.
By 1933, he was no longer just an assistant in practice. He was Blalock’s research partner. But officially, he was still paid and treated far below his real role.
In 1941, Dr. Blalock moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital to become Chief of Surgery. He agreed to go only if Vivien came with him. The hospital allowed it. But they gave Vivien a lower-status technical title.
Then came their biggest challenge.
Babies were dying from a heart defect called ‘tetralogy of Fallot’. People called it ‘Blue Baby Syndrome’. The babies’ skin turned blue because their bodies were not getting enough oxygen. Most did not live long.
Dr. Helen Taussig asked if a surgery could increase blood flow to the lungs.
Blalock turned to Vivien.
“Can you figure this out?”
Vivien went to work.
For months, he practiced on dogs. He tried again and again. He had to create new methods. He had to design tools. No one had ever done this before.
Finally, he developed a way to connect the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery. The new path lets more blood reach the lungs.
It was bold.
It was risky.
It had never been tried on a human.
On November 29, 1944, they operated on a baby girl named Eileen Saxon. She was 15 months old and weighed only nine pounds. She was dying.
Dr. Blalock performed the surgery. Vivien stood behind him on a step stool. He quietly guided every move.
“Deeper.”
“A little to the left.”
“Use smaller sutures there.”
Blalock held the tools. Vivien directed the operation.
After four and a half hours, it was over. Eileen’s blue lips turned pink. Her fingers turned pink. Oxygen was finally reaching her body.
The surgery worked.
The procedure became known as the Blalock-Taussig Shunt. It changed medicine. It saved thousands of children. It helped create the field of pediatric heart surgery.
Dr. Blalock became famous.
Vivien did not.
For 22 years, Vivien trained surgical residents at Johns Hopkins. Many of them became leaders in heart surgery. They learned their skills from him.
But he was not called Doctor. He was not listed as faculty. He ate with the maintenance staff.
His name appeared on no papers.
In 1971, after four decades of work, Johns Hopkins promoted him to Instructor of Surgery. Not Professor. Instructor.
By then, the surgeons he had trained knew the truth.
In 1976, the hospital honored him with a portrait. It was placed beside Blalock’s. At the ceremony, former students stood and applauded. Some cried.
They knew who had taught them. They knew who had built the foundation.
That same year, Johns Hopkins awarded him an honorary doctorate. At last, he was officially Dr. Vivien Thomas.
He was 66 years old.
He had been doing the work of a surgeon for 46 years.
Dr. Vivien Thomas died in 1985 at age 75.
In 2004, HBO released a film about his life called Something the Lord Made.
Today, students study his work. Scholarships carry his name. The surgery he created is still saving lives more than 80 years later.
For most of his career, he was paid and treated far below his true ability.
He stood on a step stool so others could stand in the spotlight.
He kept working.
He kept teaching.
He kept saving lives.
They called him a janitor.
History calls him a hero.
Vivien Thomas was born into the Jim Crow South. He was Black in a world that told him what he could and could not become.
He wanted to be a doctor.
He worked as a carpenter and saved every dollar to attend the Tennessee Agricultural and Industrial College. He planned to go to medical school.
Then the Great Depression hit.
The bank where he kept his savings collapsed. His money was gone. So were his plans.
At 19, Vivien took a job at Vanderbilt University Hospital. He earned 12 dollars a week as a laboratory assistant. He worked in the lab of Dr. Alfred Blalock.
He was expected to clean, care for animals, and stay quiet.
Instead, he watched.
He listened.
He asked smart questions.
He understood what the experiments were trying to do.
Dr. Blalock noticed. He began teaching Vivien surgical skills.
Vivien had never been to medical school. He had no degree. But he had sharp eyes, a strong memory, and steady hands. Soon, he was performing complex surgeries on lab animals. His stitching was careful and exact. His knowledge of anatomy was deep.
By 1933, he was no longer just an assistant in practice. He was Blalock’s research partner. But officially, he was still paid and treated far below his real role.
In 1941, Dr. Blalock moved to Johns Hopkins Hospital to become Chief of Surgery. He agreed to go only if Vivien came with him. The hospital allowed it. But they gave Vivien a lower-status technical title.
Then came their biggest challenge.
Babies were dying from a heart defect called ‘tetralogy of Fallot’. People called it ‘Blue Baby Syndrome’. The babies’ skin turned blue because their bodies were not getting enough oxygen. Most did not live long.
Dr. Helen Taussig asked if a surgery could increase blood flow to the lungs.
Blalock turned to Vivien.
“Can you figure this out?”
Vivien went to work.
For months, he practiced on dogs. He tried again and again. He had to create new methods. He had to design tools. No one had ever done this before.
Finally, he developed a way to connect the subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery. The new path lets more blood reach the lungs.
It was bold.
It was risky.
It had never been tried on a human.
On November 29, 1944, they operated on a baby girl named Eileen Saxon. She was 15 months old and weighed only nine pounds. She was dying.
Dr. Blalock performed the surgery. Vivien stood behind him on a step stool. He quietly guided every move.
“Deeper.”
“A little to the left.”
“Use smaller sutures there.”
Blalock held the tools. Vivien directed the operation.
After four and a half hours, it was over. Eileen’s blue lips turned pink. Her fingers turned pink. Oxygen was finally reaching her body.
The surgery worked.
The procedure became known as the Blalock-Taussig Shunt. It changed medicine. It saved thousands of children. It helped create the field of pediatric heart surgery.
Dr. Blalock became famous.
Vivien did not.
For 22 years, Vivien trained surgical residents at Johns Hopkins. Many of them became leaders in heart surgery. They learned their skills from him.
But he was not called Doctor. He was not listed as faculty. He ate with the maintenance staff.
His name appeared on no papers.
In 1971, after four decades of work, Johns Hopkins promoted him to Instructor of Surgery. Not Professor. Instructor.
By then, the surgeons he had trained knew the truth.
In 1976, the hospital honored him with a portrait. It was placed beside Blalock’s. At the ceremony, former students stood and applauded. Some cried.
They knew who had taught them. They knew who had built the foundation.
That same year, Johns Hopkins awarded him an honorary doctorate. At last, he was officially Dr. Vivien Thomas.
He was 66 years old.
He had been doing the work of a surgeon for 46 years.
Dr. Vivien Thomas died in 1985 at age 75.
In 2004, HBO released a film about his life called Something the Lord Made.
Today, students study his work. Scholarships carry his name. The surgery he created is still saving lives more than 80 years later.
For most of his career, he was paid and treated far below his true ability.
He stood on a step stool so others could stand in the spotlight.
He kept working.
He kept teaching.
He kept saving lives.
They called him a janitor.
History calls him a hero.
Madam C.J. Walker was born in 1867 on a cotton plantation in Louisiana and became fabulously wealthy after developing a line of Black hair care products. She founded the Madam C.J. Walker Company in 1910. Walker also helped thousands of Black women gain financial independence as company sales agents and employees at the company’s headquarters in Indianapolis.
Born into slavery, George Washington Carver became the first African American to earn a bachelor of science degree in 1894. He went on to develop new methods to help poor Southern farmers increase their yields. Known as "The Peanut Man," Carver also created 300 products derived from peanuts, including cheese, milk, coffee, flour, ink, dyes, plastics, wood stains, soap, linoleum, medicinal oils and cosmetics.
Career Outreach- Transportation
The last week has been full of fun and activities at the Academy.
Students are looking their best today for Senior pictures.
Academy students visiting Hill College to learn about their Career and Technology programs.
The stars were always within reach for Katherine Johnson. Using her mathematics skills, she helped NASA send astronauts to the moon and return them safely home. She also overcame racial and gender hurdles that helped make giant leaps for humankind.
Career outreach presenters inspiring our students.
Mark your calendars
Jesse Louis Jackson was an American civil rights activist, politician, and ordained Baptist minister. A protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement, he became one of the most prominent civil rights leaders of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Tuesday February 17, 2026
Before her 30th birthday, Mae C. Jemison had received two undergraduate degrees and a medical degree, served two years as a Peace Corps medical officer in West Africa, and was selected to join the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's astronaut training program. Her eight-day space flight aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992 established Jemison as the United States' first female African-American space traveler.
Last night Everman Academy participated in the Everman Education Foundation's annual event to raise money for scholarships and classroom innovations. As always it was a huge success!
EOC on Campus (FAFSA) to help our students reach their dreams.
Thank you to the 4 Career Outreach Presenters and for Mr. Tucker organizing the event. Our students grew from this experience.
Academy students decorating and getting into the Valentine's spirit!
Staff Development/ Student Holiday Friday February 13
Staff & Student Holiday Monday February 16
Staff & Student Holiday Monday February 16
In observance of Presidents’ Day, Everman ISD will be closed Monday, February 16, 2026.
We hope our students, staff, and families enjoy the day as we honor the leaders who have shaped our nation.
We hope our students, staff, and families enjoy the day as we honor the leaders who have shaped our nation.
