Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsBetty Jo Hicks is the new principal at Anchored Christian Academy.

On Monday, about 150 students will be welcomed back to Anchored Christian Academy on Cave Mill Road.

And this year, students will be greeted by the new head of the school, Betty Jo Hicks.

Hicks attended Glendale Baptist Church, which runs the school, as a student at Western Kentucky University, and she will replace Martha Vaught, who retired as principal last year.

“I have some pretty big footsteps to follow,” Hicks said. “(Vaught) was responsible for moving the school from the church to a main-standing building. It was her vision. She’s an amazing, godly, respected and loved person, and I’ll be living in her shadow for a while.

“But it’s a good shadow.”

The 1966 WKU graduate has spent 33 years in education; however, it wasn’t the career she thought she’d have. Hicks said she graduated from Western with a degree in sociology with the intent of being a social worker. But when her husband, Ronnie Hicks, moved to Florida to continue his education, she moved with him and found herself in need of a job.

“It was during integration, and a school needed a teacher and I needed a job,” she said.

Hicks said she applied and was hired, and given temporary certification to teach. It was there she fell in love with teaching.

“I will always love that school; it holds a special place in my heart,” she said. “They made a teacher out of me. There is a connection between a teacher and a student, and I believe God led me through. They learned a lot and I learned a lot, and I realized how I could make a difference in lives as a teacher.”

The couple moved to Mississippi and then Missouri, where Ronnie Hicks attended Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary & College. Once finishing seminary, he started a church of his own in Independence, Mo., and Hicks started teaching high school English.

She taught there for 25 years.

The couple returned to Bowling Green specifically for the position at Anchored Christian Academy.

While teaching, Hicks said she did a lot of mentoring to new teachers. She said she loves helping other teachers and enjoys getting into classrooms and helping with classroom management.

Hicks has also been under the guidance of many principals.

“Many times I thought, ‘if I was a principal, this is what I would do,’ ” she said. “I want to be the type of principal I never had.”

Hicks said a principal should be an encourager and be visible.

Although Hicks will be doing administrative work, forgetting what it was like to be a teacher isn’t an option. Hicks said she will be teaching English and pre-algebra this year.

“The heart of a school is the students,” she said. “And I love the classroom.”

Hicks said she’s glad to be at the school and is excited about the school year. The school, she said, has a strong vision to give students a great academic foundation and to prepare them to do God’s will.

“And I don’t want to change that,” Hicks said. “I just want to be a part of what’s already here and help the school continue that vision.”