LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – With every classroom drawer filled, and bookshelf stacked, Arianna Hicks is one step closer to welcoming fifth graders to her classroom for the first time at Matt Kelly Elementary.
“I needed help, my room was a hot mess,” Arianna says. “I was like, ‘I need my family here,’ so I called them and they came to help me set up.”
Luckily for Arianna, her family didn’t have to travel far.
Her mother, Sharon Hicks, and her sister, Kaila Hicks, work right down the hall.
“Me being a teacher’s assistant, and them teachers, I believe that I can take tips from them because I will be a teacher soon,” Kaila says.
Kaila is working to get her teaching degree at Grand Canyon University. While she says she’s hoping to learn from her mother and sister, they all plan to lean on each other.
“When we’re stressed, I can go to my mom’s room or go to my sister’s room and feel supported,” Arianna says.
Her mother, Sharon, has taught first grade at Matt Kelly for three years.
“I know what you’re going through, I understand, you’ll get through it, just one day at a time and we can get through this,” Sharon says.
But what’s most important to the Hicks is representing a community they care so deeply about.
“Kids need to know that people who look like them are the educators, they are the leaders of their community,” Arianna says.
Since FOX5 spoke with the Hicks, another sister started at Matt Kelly, bringing their family total to four.
Arianna got her teaching license through the Public Education’s Teacher FastTrack Program.
Clark County School District officials credit programs like Teacher FastTrack for why they’re down 150 vacancies from this same time last year.
Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.