Growing up in a small village in South America, Bebi Davis would sit down before a row of trees and pretend they were students while she impersonated a strict schoolteacher whom she admired.

“;I just loved the way he would teach,”; Davis recalled. “;It just came naturally.”;

Davis, the 40-year-old daughter of parents who never completed high school, was selected Hawaii's Teacher of the Year yesterday. The Farrington High physics and chemistry teacher edged out six District Teachers of the Year who were finalists.

Colleagues described Davis as a passionate educator who spends her free time doing beach cleanups, volunteering as a judge in science fairs and reaching out to students in feeder schools in her district.

“;She just embraces all kids,”; said her principal, Catherine Payne, who attributed a 50 percent surge in Farrington High students taking physics and chemistry largely to Davis' ability to get them interested in science.

Davis was raised in Guyana, a former Dutch colony north of Brazil, by a sugar cane worker who lacked a diploma but would sit on the floor with her at night after a long day on the field to teach her math. Her mother helped her with English.

Her family later moved to New York, but Davis was bothered by the city's pollution. She eventually settled in Hawaii, where she attended Kapiolani Community College and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

“;I grew up in a Third World country where education was the key to success and teachers were given the greatest respect because they mold the future,”; Davis wrote in her application for the contest. “;When I came to America, I found the same greatness in being a teacher.”;

Pascale Pinner, who grabbed the state's top teaching award last year and was in a committee that picked this year's winner, said Davis' essay was filled with “;sparkles.”; In one passage, Davis wrote that a teacher “;is a spark that kindles the flame of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils.”;

“;You could just see her energy coming out of the page. It was a lot about passion,”; said Pinner, a science teacher at Hilo Intermediate. “;A passion for science and for kids.”;

Davis has been collecting honors since joining Farrington High in 2001, having clinched the prestigious Milken National Educator award in 2005 and being recognized by the city and the state Legislature. Earlier this year she led and advised students who won a $75,000 grand prize in the National Lexus Environmental Challenge.

In a ceremony at Aliamanu Middle School yesterday, Davis received a one-year lease on a new car, donated by the Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association, and $1,000 from the Polynesian Cultural Center, which also presented $500 to each District Teacher of the Year.

SMARTer Kids Foundation from Canada gave district teacher winners software for lessons, while Davis got an electronic whiteboard and other classroom technology.