In a world of change, tots and their beloved mentor still roam a Raleigh high school

For nearly 40 years, there have been two constants at Athens Drive High School: the sight of preschool children walking the halls, and Paulette Hicks, there to greet them.

Athens Drive opened in 1978 as the only Wake County high school with a child care center – a distinction the West Raleigh school still holds. And all through the last 39 years, Hicks has been the director of the Athens Drive Child Development Center and has helped hundreds of young children get the educational start they’ve needed.

This week, Hicks was recognized at a Wake County school board meeting with a district Employee Excellence Award. She was called an “integral part” of the school’s community.

“She is a magical educator,” Jason Hughes, a Wake school system director of human resources, said at the meeting. “She genuinely cares for each Little Jag and Junior Jag and prepares them for elementary school. Her commitment to education and masterful teaching are inspiring to all.”

Hicks was a kindergarten teacher at Douglas Elementary School in Raleigh when she was in put in charge of running the new child care center. The program was envisioned as a laboratory to help high school students who were interested in careers in early childhood education.

Among the program’s first students was the 3-year-old son of then-Wake County Superintendent John Murphy, and Wake school employees, including those at Athens Drive High, have continued to pay to enroll their children at the program. The center is also open to the public.

Abbey Wood, a science teacher at Athens Drive, says the center prepared her daughter Braelyn, who attended from 2013 to 2015, for kindergarten and first grade. Wood talks about how the children interact with the high school students who volunteer at the center, go to the community library on campus and work with the high school’s arts and foods teachers.

“It’s such a unique and amazing program,” Wood said. “They have so many more opportunities than they have at a standalone child development center.”

Some of the “Little Jags” have gone on to graduate from the high school and work at Athens Drive. Crystal Pittman, who teaches hearing impaired students at Athens Drive, says she can still remember Hicks’ smile from when she attended from 1983 to 1985.

“I remember her face and that she was always happy,” Pittman said.

The center has remained stable in an ever-changing world. In addition to Hicks’ 39 years, teacher Jewel Hughes has worked there for 35 years.

Enrollment has fluctuated during the center’s history, Hicks said. It has been as high as 40 children but is at 11 students this year.

Hicks said the center has relied on word of mouth to get students, and she gets calls from parents who attended when they were children.

“When they call back and say, ‘Is Mrs. Hicks still there?’ Hicks said, “and I say, ‘Yes I’m Mrs. Hicks.’ ‘Mrs. Hicks, I’ve got a baby. I want my child to have you!’”

Hicks, 70, is the last “Silver Jag,” an educator who was at Athens Drive when it opened, who is still at the school. She said she has turned down administrative jobs to stay with the young children.

“I’ve always loved teaching, and Athens has always been my heart, truly,” Hicks said. “I thought I was in heaven when I started teaching third and fourth grade.

“And then when I went to Douglas Elementary and I had kindergarten, I thought this was the place for me. But when I came over here with the 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, I knew that this was heaven.”

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 1:56 PM with the headline "In a world of change, tots and their beloved mentor still roam a Raleigh high school."