LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Rebecca Hicks was nominated by a colleague, Jason Mayfield.

"Mrs. Hicks works tirelessly to reach every student at her school. Her caseload is the toughest of the tough - the principal knows that students who are struggling can be sent to her, and Mrs. Hicks will accept no excuses and will work all hours to get that student to succeed. I have often returned from cross-county practice at 5 pm, two hours after school, and Mrs. Hicks is still helping a student with a retest or with notes for an upcoming test. Her light is often the last one on in the building - or if it's off, it's because she's moved on to take tickets at that night's event," said Mayfield.

"Mrs. Hicks reaches all students through her Peer Helpers program. She has transformed the club into "the" club that all students fight to be a part of, and that's remarkable because it's a service club. Besides helping lead the 8th to 9th-grade transition, her club works to help students be their best selves. Two years ago, the club sponsored a Kindness campaign, which made a marked difference in the school's climate," said Mayfield.

"It would have been easy to say 'not my job,' this spring when both the middle and high school quiz bowl teams qualified for nationals, but Mrs. Hicks was the person who made the journey possible for both teams. Both schools are Title I schools, and there was no funding at the local or district level for the registration fee for nationals, much less money for anyone to travel. Mrs. Hicks volunteered Peer Helpers to fundraise. She contacted the local state representative and had Peer Helpers speak to local businesses. She had Peer Helpers make and sell candy grams, set up a Spirit Night at a local establishment, and had members of the quiz bowl team - and Peer Helpers - sell gift cards to fund the thousands of dollars needed," said Mayfield.

"It was challenging - the state representative had funding for registration, but everything else came in dollar amounts less than $10. On Spirit Night, which was on a spring break night, they earned $50. Nevertheless, she tackled the uphill battle to get funding. We ended up with enough money for the registration, for both sponsor teachers (Mrs. Hicks was not the sponsor teacher - again, she just wanted to make this happen for the school), and money for students to have at least one hotel night paid for. This trip was the high school's first appearance at nationals and the middle school's third appearance. The trip would not have happened without Mrs. Hicks' tireless energy and support," said Mayfield.

"Mrs. Hicks challenged herself to pursue National Board certification. She took all four components at once. Mrs. Hicks just missed this past year but has been open about challenging herself through the process of trying again. Her work with the certification, the tutoring she does with her students, the endless nights she stays manning tickets or concessions at games, and her work transforming the school's culture make her an outstanding candidate for the LifeChanger of the Year Award. We all know her to be a LifeChanger," said Mayfield.