DAVID MAMARIL HOROWITZ

david.horowitz@bgdailynews.com

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, decadelong Barren County educator Lacey Hickey wished she could ease uncertainty among families, kids, teachers and community members.

“We all didn’t know what to expect, but I wanted to be on the team making everybody feel OK about it,” Hickey said.

Since May 2020, she’s overseen Alvaton Elementary as assistant principal. On Thursday, Warren County Public Schools announced her as the new principal at Richardsville Elementary.

A main goal in the new role, she said, is to learn the school’s going-ons and needs and develop ideas that fit naturally into the scheme of what’s happening.

Hickey worked closely with Alvaton’s principal as she oversaw numerous areas of operation, from safety drills to bussing and transportation to maintenance.

Observing and coaching teachers became an area Hickey grew attached to.

“I’ll get to spend even more time doing that, because when you come out of the classroom, you think, ‘How am I going to continue to reach students when I’m not really right there with them as I was as a teacher?’,” she said. “The way you do that is by supporting your teachers.”

Hickey reflected on her time teaching kids in elementary school. Relationships, she said, are key.

“Once you build that relationship with a kid, they trust you, and they’re going to come to you when they’re struggling in the classroom or when there’s something they need,” she said. “You have to be that smiling face and that consistency for them so that they feel safe, and then when they feel safe, then you build those relationships.”

She recalled playing penny wars, where kids would donate coins on behalf of a teacher who would do something silly – and one year, kissing a cow.

“They absolutely loved that,” she said. “That was one of the best pieces of advice I got when I was in college: to be a fool for kids. So, I feel like those moments, as silly as they are, mean a lot to them, and it’s definitely something I haven’t forgotten.

They’re kids – they still have that joy and that fun that they seek out in what they’re doing. And while our job is very serious and there are a lot of high stakes involved, when they see that you’re a person and that you care for them and you’re a model of how to learn and grow, then I think that that means a lot for them.”

She begins her role July 21.