Paying Forward the Gifts

When our new head of school spoke them into my recorder during our first sit-down interview back in August 2014, I recall thinking, simply: Wow!

The genesis of Hickman’s credo – which was very consistent with Collegiate’s, by the way – was his experience at Presbyterian Day School, which he attended through the sixth grade before he moved on to Memphis University School. It was his “Mrs. Dobbins moment” some years later, though, that crystalized his thinking and set the course for his career in education.

 

Mary Alice Smith Dobbins was Hickman’s first grade teacher at PDS. Hickman’s first teaching job was at the school where he’d spent his formative years.

 

“I was green,” he said. “I don’t think I was even 21 years old. During in-service, I walked into the teachers’ lounge for the first time feeling very out of place. Mrs. Dobbins came in. She said, ‘I remember you from my first grade class.’ In the back of my mind, I was thinking, Very nice lady. Nice things to say. But I’m sure she doesn’t remember me too much. It’s been a while. She’s taught a lot of kids.

 

“The next morning, I went back in the lounge, and there was something in my mailbox. By the way, it was the first time I’d gotten anything in my mailbox. When I pulled it out, it was two things. The first was a box score from a high school basketball game with my name circled. She’d cut it out of the newspaper. The second was a drawing of a bird that was colored in. At the bottom, clearly in the script of a six-year-old, was ‘Steve H.’

 

“I learned that she’d kept something about every student she’d ever taught. Our schools are so special because of this idea about knowing every child well. My ‘Mrs. Dobbins moment’ has resonated with me over the years.”

 

Friday morning, Hickman presided over his final Collegiate commencement. Soon, he will close up shop, turn in his keys, and assume, in retirement, a slower pace where he will focus on his family.

 

Hickman’s career in education, which followed 16 years in management and leadership positions in the securities industry, has spanned 23 years. His travels have taken him from teaching, coaching, and administrative roles at Lakeview Academy (Gainesville, GA) to headships at Heathwood Hall (Columbia, SC) and Episcopal Collegiate School (Little Rock, AR) to Collegiate.

 

During his tenure on North Mooreland Road, Collegiate has made significant progress in many areas, all with that shared guiding principle – Know Every Child Well – front and center.

 

“That (principle) stands at the foundation of what great schools are about: relationships and connections,” he said. “It’s transformative for many kids. I was blessed to go to schools similar to Collegiate. It was through a lot of sacrifices from my mother. This journey has been very personal. It’s been incredibly rewarding to be able to give back to the type of community that meant so much to me. If we do our work well, kids benefit.”

 

Mrs. Dobbins was hardly the only teacher whose kindness and guidance inspired a young Steve Hickman.

 

“There were several, at different times of my life and for different reasons,” he said. “I had a PE coach (at PDS) who lived down the street from me. My mother had to be at work at 7:30 every morning in downtown Memphis. There was no way she could get me to school.

 

“Mr. A (Laird Ainsworth) found out about our struggle to get to school and volunteered to pick me up each day. Did it from first grade through sixth grade. Never would take any money.

 

“We would get there really early. I didn’t have anything to do, so he would let me in the gym. As a second, third, or fourth grader, I’d be in there shooting basketball. You let a young kid have free access to a gym…that’s pretty cool.

 

“I could name literally a half-dozen more. As I look back, I’ve thought about all the people who had such a great influence on me. Many times, it was people going about what they loved to do and the impact it had on kids…and never talked about it. It happens every day at Collegiate. It has for a very long time.”

 

As we concluded our exit interview a couple of weeks ago, I asked my friend what he will miss most when his days (and many nights) are not filled with the joys and challenges of sharing the Collegiate experience, up close and personal, with 1,679 young people, 365 faculty and staff, and thousands of alumni, parents, and friends.

 

“People. Relationships,” he responded, not surprisingly. “School life has a structure that I find comforting and energizing. There’s a sense of unknown in every school day that’s exciting and keeps you fresh. Alex Smith (long-time vice-president for development who retired in 2016) said on many occasions that the people are the secret sauce of our community. The wise man that he is…he’s correct. I’ll miss the secret sauce.”

   -- Weldon Bradshaw