Cindy Ricks, walking counselor

TKC: What has been the best part of your job?

CR: Being able to build relationships and be part of kids’ lives for four years.

TKC: What will you miss the most about KHS?

CR: I will miss the students the most and the administration that I have worked with.

TKC: What will you do after this?

CR: Nothing for a few months. Projects around the house and seeing grandchildren, and then I’m going to decide. Probably something part-time, but I don’t know right now what that’s going to be.

TKC: What made you want to start being an educator?

CR: I loved high school. I loved my own experience at high school, and my husband and I did youth ministry with teenagers, so I’ve always loved teenagers. When they called to interview me, they said they needed a mom at school, which really appealed to me because I love being a mom. It’s a humble position. Doing something behind the scenes where I could care for kids in the best way I could is what appealed to me.

TKC: What were you like as a student?

CR: In high school, my big thing was sports. But I was a good student. I got involved in everything. I was a class officer, I did spirit club, I just got fully involved.

TKC: What is something that would surprise your students if they knew about you?

CR: I went to college on a volleyball scholarship and have coached volleyball at a college level. I coached for four years.

TKC: Describe your career at KHS in one sentence.

CR: It’s a role in which I wear very many hats and have been able to build my own program. I started Study Focus, and as a class sponsor, which I love, I have done that differently. I have been able to take it and do something with it. It’s provided that challenge and a lot of variety in what I do.

TKC: How has KHS changed since you started your career?

CR: I would say, for most of my time at Kirkwood High School, it was a village feel. Everybody pitched in and helped in whatever way they could. If it meant you put a kid in the car and took them home from a game because nobody showed up to pick them up, that’s what you did. And I would say that due to how society’s changed, but also things within the district. You have to be careful about everything. It [has become]more challenging to try and build relationships.

TKC: What advice would you give students?

CR: Whatever you do, do to the best of your ability, but don’t be too hard on yourself. It’ll all be OK. You don’t need to be perfect. And invest in making great friendships.

TKC: Do you have anything else to add?

CR: I have mixed feelings about leaving, because it’s been a job that I have truly loved. My son-in-law, a few years back, said ‘My goal is to find a career that I like as much as my mother-in-law loves her job.’ And I have loved my job. Part of it is the variety, but it’s mainly just being able to be involved in kids’ lives and see how they grow and mature. I laugh with them every day. That’s gonna be hard to give up, but I know it’s time, and I know I need to move on to the next chapter.