News: Do'ers Profile
Rachel Hicks

Name and Profession: Rachel Hicks, bus driver

NEA Local Affiliate: Geneva County (Alabama) ESP Organization

Position: Local president

Recent Accomplishment: This first-year president has helped boost her small local's membership from 75 percent to 94 percent of potential and enlisted education support personnel in a variety of energizing activities.

Geneva County ESPO members have raised $12,600 to buy security cameras for the district's 35 buses, teamed with teachers to promote student reading, and won a top award at the National Peanut Festival for an imaginative exhibit--viewed by more than 400,000 people--on the important role of ESP in public schools.

"I have a product I believe in: our NEA local and state affiliates," Hicks stresses, "and it's easy to sell to nonmembers."

For starters, Geneva County ESPO has built a positive relationship with the administration. This has led to the designation of a central office liaison for support staff and improvements in district policy, such as ESP parity with teacher leave and an updated sick leave bank.

This relationship has also yielded gains in professional development. With the full support of Superintendent William Burns--a proud new Geneva County ESPO member--Hicks and her colleagues recently organized two days of workshops on ESP-requested topics such as gang awareness, youth violence, stress management, special ed laws, and even "kitchen math."

Words of Wisdon: "I decided not to sit back and do nothing, but to step up to the plate, set goals, and accomplish them. There are those who will help you accomplish your goals and those who will want to stop you, so you can't stop long enough for anything to get in your way.

"You need to keep an open mind when dealing with administrators and school board members. I don't mean butter them up. I mean think positively, never negatively, and keep going back in with the same issue and don't give up.

"Let managers know you're not going away, and that you will be back time after time until a problem is solved.

"Two of my best organizing tools are my local Association newsletter and personal contact. You've got to work with others as a team and get everyone's input, no matter how small. Each member is valuable to the Association, no matter what the job description, so you need to say to him or her, 'You're important. I need your help in this.'"

(E-mail Rachel Hicks at rachelbusmom@aol.com)