LifeChanger of the Year Nominee Profile

Heather Hicks was nominated by an anonymous colleague.

Ms. Hicks is currently in her second year serving as an elementary and middle school counselor. In that time, she has truly made an impact on the lives of students and staff.

Ms. Hicks' counseling duties include designing and delivering class lessons over topics such as character and personal safety. After these lessons, students may need to see the counselor privately, which she always makes time to do. She has developed very positive relationships with families of students and works to keep them informed of matters of concern. She also works with health and welfare entities to keep them informed of the needs of students who might be living in unsafe environments. Ms. Hicks handles these delicate issues confidentially and effectively, resulting in more appropriate care for our students.

"I have had the pleasure to work with students whose behavioral and academic performances have improved markedly since Heather began advocating for them," said her nominator.

Ms. Hicks serves as the chair of the campus climate committee. She plans for staff celebrations and works with others in making her school an awesome place to work. She leads a fitness class for staff members after school two days a week.

Ms. Hicks created the “Caught Being Good” program, which recognizes and honors student accomplishments. She links this program with another student recognition program, “Warrior of the Week," which celebrates outstanding character attributes and growth mindset. This week’s character trait of the week is “M” for “Motivated”.

Ms. Hicks also oversees the Backpack program, which sends needy students home with food each weekend. She works with Project Santa, benefiting needy families of students in her area. She works with the community clothes closet, which serves families throughout the area.

"Honey Grove Elementary and Middle Schools are Title I campuses, and about 70% of our student population qualifies for free and reduced lunch. Her work with student support programs is vital to the health and welfare of our student population," said her nominator.

Ms. Hicks serves the Middle School campus as the 504 and RTI coordinator. These are extremely important programs through which school personnel can pinpoint areas of academic concern for students. Ms. Hicks chairs both of these committees, which examine student performance data to design individualized interventions and accommodations to best meet the needs of struggling students. Ms. Hicks also served as campus testing coordinator for the middle school this year after serving the elementary school in the same capacity last year. She has shown herself to be organized and responsible in this role, as she is in all of the tasks she is given.

"Heather is the only counselor for our Elementary and Middle schools, and her duties as a counselor involve much more than what I have mentioned," said her nominator. "She has been called on to provide grief counseling and counseling for our special needs students. In the short time she has served this community as a school counselor, she has made life-changing impacts on students and staff."