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Hamilton County: Ricks wants to serve community on school board

By: Kelli Gauthier
(Contact)

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George Ricks

George Ricks is no stranger to the Hamilton County school system.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Ricks has volunteered in various buildings, and now he has decided to run for the vacant District 4 seat on the Hamilton County Board of Education.

“I’ve always worked with children. I have an undying love for working with youths in the community,” he said. “This is not an overnight decision. I’ve just been doing this for so long.”

Mr. Ricks now will compete against M. Fran Pierce, Anita Polk-Conley and Gregg Juster to represent the downtown schools in District 4 after longtime board member Debra Matthews died last month. The election will be Nov. 4.

Though he doesn’t like to brag, Mr. Ricks said, he believes he has helped thousands of children in his community by assisting with college applications, taking his own money to reward students for good grades and positive behavior or just volunteering at their school.

Every day at 8 a.m., he can be found at Howard School of Academics and Technology, greeting students and serving as a role model, he said.

“Now I’m teaching them how to tie ties,” he said, laughing, referencing the school’s new dress code.

Gerald Mason, who works for Kastle Instructional Recovery, has known Mr. Ricks for 30 years, and said the amount of free help he offers to students, teachers and parents at Howard and other schools is commendable.

“His commitment to children and the community is tremendous,” he said. “We say his heart is bigger than he is.”

Known to many in the community as “Little Man,” Mr. Ricks is married to Maria, whom he refers to as his girlfriend “because we still date.” He works as a community liaison at the Southside/Dodson Avenue Community Health Centers and has a grown son, George Jr., and a nephew, Marlon, whom he also raised.

Encouraging others to get involved with schools the way he has is his No. 1 goal for the school board, Mr. Ricks said. Retirees, for example, have the time to volunteer at schools, he said.

“Just greeting students in the morning and giving them a hug, that can change someone’s life,” he said.

Mr. Ricks also wants to see a renewed emphasis on career and technical education in schools. He thinks the school system needs to enhance the current career academies and open a stand-alone vocational high school. The district closed Kirkman Technical High School in 1991.

Parents and school officials also need to have greater communication with each other, Mr. Ricks said, so he is planning a series of parent forums.

“Parents need to be heard, but in return, they need to be willing to listen to the teachers,” he said.

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