Singled out as one of the top teachers in the state, Keri Hicks is entitled to the fist pumping and strutting associated with sports victories.
Instead, the Gillett coach and secondary school teacher is quick to share the spotlight with her colleagues and focus on the small ways she influenced her students en route to receiving the Herb Kohl Educational Foundation Fellowship Award.
“There’s not any of that ‘I’m out saving the world’ thing or anything. It’s just that day-to-day contact with the kids,” said Hicks, who teaches physical education and health.
Fellowship recipients are chosen for their superior ability to inspire a love of learning in their students, their ability to motivate others, and their leadership and service within and outside the classroom.
Colleague Tami McQuillan said she nominated Hicks for the award because of her commitment and passion for education.
“She is eager, enthusiastic and admired by students in and outside of the classroom,” McQuillan said.
Her sixth-grade students said they like Hicks because she helps them and talks with them. According to sixth-grader Andrew Lemens, the message she imparts is “Always try your hardest, and be a friend to other people.”
Aside from the obvious goals of improving health and wellness for her students, Hicks strives to help students through the sometimes difficult transitions of the middle school and high school years. Hick teaches kids in sixth to 12th grade.
As they transition, she works to build their self-esteem and positive outlook, while emphasizing the importance of sportsmanship, cooperating and getting along.
“She gives it 100 percent, and the kids are really lucky to have her as a teacher and coach,” said colleague Matt Polomis, also a physical education teacher at Gillett Secondary School. “She’s always very professional, kind and caring to all the kids.”
According to Hicks, her message to students is three-fold: take pride in who you are, be physically active and strengthen the mind.
In recent years, Hicks has introduced several innovative programs. Middle school students clip on pedometers to measure their activity level in gym class, and high schoolers strap heart rate monitors to their chests and get immediate feedback by glancing at a wrist band to be sure they reach their target heart rate. It’s one way Hicks promotes lifelong wellness habits, as students learn the level of exertion needed to reap health benefits.
Another innovative program, one which added 640 minutes of exercise per school year, starts as soon as students enter the gym. Instead of lining up for attendance, students read a sign explaining a warm-up activity. It’s a way Hicks promotes physical activity and literacy.
There’s also a “Cognitive Connection” bulletin board with written information about the class activity. In addition, students have assignments and complete tests on their laptops. Physical education today is not just athletic ability, but also incorporates other disciplines, such as math and literacy, Hicks said.
Polomis said one of Hicks’ strengths is her willingness to adapt to new educational models.
“She’s been open to change and trying new things to do what’s best for the students,” he said.
“Matt and I have really, over the last seven years, stepped up our teaching,” Hicks said.
Hicks said it’s a blessing to working with Polomis and the other male physical education teachers she has been paired with in her 30-year career at Gillett.
“To me, this award goes to all the men I worked with,” Hicks said.
She and Polomis will decide how to use the $3,000 Kohl Fellowship grant the school receives. They’re considering big ticket items for the physical education department or investing in supplies for the pedometer and heart rate programs.
Some of the $3,000 personal grant Hicks receives will be used for photography equipment. Hicks is a photography buff who shares her hobby with students as yearbook adviser and senior portrait photographer.
Hicks is also a member of the district’s autism grant committee, which is using funding from a two-year grant to assist students with autism. Committee members put up visual aids, like signs outside teachers’ room that shows the teachers’ names and photographs, which are helpful not only to students with autism, but also to visitors at the school.
The committee is also implementing a positive peers group involving 21 students who have been nominated for a support groups for three of their peers who have autism.
Hicks also is a summer school co-administrator who took over the Gillett program four years ago and expanded it to include more classes, free breakfast and lunch, and busing.
She also works as a referee for area schools and coaches Gillett sports teams. She was the head volleyball coach for 21 years, then coached freshmen and junior high volleyball to coach her two daughters’ teams before returning as head volleyball coach in 2014. She also coached girls track for 10 years and junior high girls basketball for five years.
“I love working with the kids, and the idea that you put everything that you have into what you’re doing,” she said.
In addition to her school involvement, Hicks is a member of the Community Development Authority and tourism and marketing committee for the city of Gillett, a former Girl Scout leader, and member of the Christian education committee at St. John’s Lutheran Church.
“Until recently, I threw myself so much into teaching and coaching and family, that this has now become my opportunity to give back to the community more,” she said.
Hicks has two daughters, Kathryn and Lindsay DeJung, both Gillett High School graduates, plus two stepdaughters and four grandchildren with her second husband, Kurt.
A three-sport athlete in high school, Hicks competed in volleyball, basketball and track. At the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, she competed in cross country and track. She accepted the Gillett position straight out of college and has always taught exclusively at the secondary school.
Categories
