Olivia Hicks Email and Phone Number

Hello, I am Olivia Hicks (she/her). I graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon May 2024, where I earned a BA in History.As a tutor and mentor at the Maurice Lucas Foundation, I worked with students from diverse backgrounds, socioeconomic situations, and stages of learning development. I assisted students academically with mostly reading comprehension and math support, as well as socially by managing behavioral issues in the classroom and providing compassionate emotional support. I strengthened my behavioral management skills as a consultant with the Reed College Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). I worked with three different Reed professors to identify and manage problems in the classroom. I facilitated communication between students and professors, and aided the professor in creating and implementing creative solutions to the problems I identified.I am deeply passionate about equitable education methods. My undergraduate thesis delves into the origins and rationale behind what is now known as Social-Emotional Learning (SEL). My thesis argues that the program emerged as a response to both the Black Power movement and the Community Control movement of the late 1960s, both reactions to the shortcomings of institutional efforts (such as Brown v. Board of Education) in achieving meaningful integration in American public schools. Studying African-American history greatly contextualized the social landscape that the African-American students I was working with were navigating in the current environment. That added urgency to an existing passion to work with children, and eventually be a part of educational reform efforts through research or advocacy.As is evidenced by the focus of my research and work experience, I am highly motivated to embark on a career that allows me to take action that aligns with my personal beliefs – most importantly, that forming empathetic connections builds strong school communities and produces healthy students.