Clarke Central High School counselor and the Clarke County School District’s 2016-17 Counselor of the Year Samuel Hicks stands in his office in the counseling office. Hicks now plans to apply at the state level. “I think it’s obvious for people who know me and know my work that I genuinely love what I do and that I am invested in making sure that there are systems in place to help people. I’ve long been committed to working with all types of minority students and I mean that from an academic, to an ethnic, to a socioeconomic sense, in particular with a lot of my focus on making things better for Hispanic students,” Hicks said. Photo by Mackenzie Caudill.
By MACKENZIE CAUDILL – Staff Writer
After being awarded 2016-17 Clarke County School District Counselor of the Year, Clarke Central High School counselor Samuel Hicks now plans to apply at the state level.
Clarke Central High School counselor Samuel Hicks was named the 2016-17 Clarke County School District Counselor of the Year.
“We’ve got 32 counselors in this district and I know they’re all doing really good work so it’s a little sheepish to say ‘Who am I?’ but I’m thankful,” Hicks said. “I pour a lot of heart and soul into this and have been for a long time. It feels good to be recognized.”
To determine who would be named, counselors throughout the county submitted their applications to a committee for review. According to Hicks, his extensive experience and work with minority students contributed to his selection.
“I think it’s obvious for people who know me and know my work that I genuinely love what I do and that I am invested in making sure that there are systems in place to help people. I’ve long been committed to working with all types of minority students and I mean that from an academic, to an ethnic, to a socioeconomic sense, in particular with a lot of my focus on making things better for Hispanic students,” Hicks said. “I think that probably is kind of a unique piece. I’m the only Spanish-speaking counselor in the school district, so I think that stands out.”
Senior Maria Somilleda Bravo is a student who works closely with Hicks and appreciates the work he does.
“He gets involved with you and connects with you on any problems he has. He speaks Spanish which makes me more confident and comfortable in talking with him,” Bravo said.
In 2014, Hicks was selected to attend then-First Lady Michelle Obama’s White House Convening conference in San Diego where representatives from each state spoke about counselors’ roles in the college process.
“I sat immediately next to (former Georgia superintendent of schools) Dr. (John) Barge as we brainstormed, and listed on poster-sized notepads, all of the areas in which counselors must have expertise to serve students well, such as: college admissions, financial aid, unique needs of special populations for college access, academic trends in higher education…just to name a few,” Hicks said. “After the process had gone on for more than an hour, Dr. Barge stared incredulously at the numerous lists and shook his head. He later took the opportunity to thank all of us for opening his eyes to the depth and breadth of the role of school counselors on behalf of students. And, he recognized that we had only focused on our role as it pertains to college access.”
Hicks mentioned this experience in his local application and plans to mention it in his state application because of the positive impact it had on him as a counselor and the way he takes care of the things asked of him.
“I just sat there and watched the state superintendent’s eyes just get bigger and bigger and finally he’s just like ‘I had no idea. I had no idea what was expected of you guys’,” Hicks said. “He was like ‘You mean to tell me we have you do this and you got to take care of it when so-and-so shows up and she’s pregnant or so-and-so shows up and he’s homeless’. ‘Yes, yes sir’. That was probably one of the most liberating things for me just to see our leader of our education system in Georgia have an ‘Aha’ moment, that was really powerful.”
According to Hicks, the quality of counselors in the district made deciding a winner more difficult and created an unknown outcome.
“This award could have gone to any number of folks. I work with a lot of terrific people,” Hicks said. “It’s nice to be honored but it honestly could go to almost anyone in our district. We have a really fantastic staff.”
For now, Hicks will continue to work on his application for State Counselor of the Year which includes some of the same requirements as the local level, such as answering essay questions and getting letters of recommendation.
“Once you’re picked as your local counselor of the year then it’s kind of expected then that you should submit your application for the state level. We’ll see. I don’t know how that will go,” Hicks said. “I have to make a video about my school and my work here so there are some kind of fun things going on with it so I’m looking forward to that.”
Bravo believes Hicks deserves the title because of the way he does his job.
“I have the pleasure to know such a great person as Mr. Hicks because he has help me to develop better at school and sharing good things with him,” Bravo said. “(It) makes me so happy to know that he is the counselor of the year because he deserved (it) for his hard work and effort on what he does.”
