Community School’s Davis Hacker channels unique outlook to comfort others and, one day, maybe even heal them

Even if it means picking up trash around the city for one hour every day, Davis Hacker wants to change the world – one step at a time.

Davis’ mom, Amy Hacker, found that he took things one step at a time no matter how much was on his plate.

“He’s got a plan and he’s really patient about processing through it,” Amy Hacker said.

This approach is one of the things that makes the Community School graduate who he is. He has Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism. To his mom, this is what helps him understand what it takes to fully accomplish a goal.

“He just becomes very passionate about something then, and it just becomes a fuel. And he’s able to tap into that in a way that maybe a normal brain doesn’t get to,” she said.

Davis Hacker is also passionate about caring for others. Even after losing his father his freshman year of high school, he used his experiences to empathize with others going through tough times.

At the Community School, students are paired with an adviser they meet with every day all four years. Davis Hacker’s adviser, Matthew Inman, has seen his contributions in and out of the classroom firsthand.

“He cares deeply about the people around him and how they’re doing or feeling. His support as a classmate and a student doesn’t end with his peers, he’s a rare student who sees when adults are having a rough day and finds appropriate times to acknowledge he sees them struggling, and he cares,” Inman said.

Davis Hacker’s care for others, partnered with his love of learning, is what allows him to offer a new perspective in everything he does.

The Community School is project-based, meaning students focus on combining subjects to form comprehensive projects. This learning method allowed Davis Hacker to showcase his ability to see the bigger picture, like how picking up trash every day ultimately helps the environment.

This learning method is not for everyone, but for Davis Hacker, it has only furthered his love for the sciences.

“It’s a reflection on science, isn’t just one subject. Everything we do is connected to science. It’s just been really wonderful to be able to witness that,” he said.

Freshman year, his work with bioplastics resulted in fully usable silverware made of potato starch. He has since only continued to build on his work.

“Recently, a big thing is 3D printing. I’ve started to research ways that could work with biodegradable plastics because it’s a totally different type of plastics necessary for those printers,” Hacker explained.

His true passion? Microbiology. Hacker looks forward to attending Spokane Falls Community College in the fall and then transferring to a four-year university for a degree in microbiology.

Ultimately, Hacker wants to work in a research lab studying antibiotic resistant germs. After learning about the Ebola outbreak in 2015 and experiencing the coronavirus pandemic, Hacker found an interest in developing medicines.

“I would love to make medicine to help prevent stuff like that from happening again,” he said.