George Ricks and his wife Maria Ricks speak with senior class students at Howard School of Academics and Technology during a graduation practice in the auditorium Monday morning. George and Maria have been volunteering their time at Howard since 1983.
ABOUT THE FINALISTGeorge RicksOccupation: Outreach coordinator, Southside-Dodson Avenue Community Health CentersEducation: Riverside High School class of 1968, Chattanooga State Community College associate’s degree in education, bachelor’s degree in history from University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaCivic Service: District 4 representative on Hamilton Board of Education; Leadership Chattanooga graduate. Past president of Chattanooga African-American Museum, Howard High School PTA and Howard High Alumni Association. Served on the boards of Public Education Foundation, Henry Branch of YMCA.Family: He and wife Maria have one son, George Jr., and nephew Marlon. The couple has five grandchildren.”We greet them at the door as they get off the bus. I make sure the guys have got their ties on, we tell the girls they look nice. We tell kids to have a good day, good luck on tests. Those who might need it, we’ll slip them a couple of dollars.” – George Ricks
George Ricks didn’t graduate from Howard School of Academics and Technology, although he did attend the South Chattanooga school during two years of middle school.
Yet Ricks served multiple terms as Howard High’s Alumni Association president, even though his diploma confirms he was a member of Riverside High School’s class of 1968.
That office is a sign of the respect Ricks has garnered from alumni, faculty and parents over almost three decades of volunteerism at Howard.
The 62-year-old Board of Education member said that he and wife Maria, also a Riverside grad, began volunteering at Howard in 1983 after the closing of their own alma mater.