Dan Hickcox Introduction

Professional background, and experience Professional Background Retired Military- I did 27 ½ years in the Army (19 Active and 8 ½ National Guard). Corrections Officer- Fire years as a Corrections Officer at a level 5 (Maximum Security) corrections institution.  Paraprofessional in an Elementary Special Education (High needs) classroom. I presently escort a 10 year old boy, who has been diagnosed as Autistic but also has a history of being violent, to a special school for the students with behavior disorders. This is my second year doing this the ride is daily on a school bus, 62 miles each way.

Interests My main interest is spending time with my family. With the Army there was very little time to spend with the family and now even though the children are all grown and moved away from home I still spend as much time with my wife and the family as a I possibly can. I have my 3 grandchildren (3 year old girl and 5 and 9 year old boys) and another one on the way in October.

K-12 experience  1 st through first semester of the 8 th grade (1966-March 1974) was spent in large intercity schools In Kansas City, Kansas. A lot of different cultures and experiences were present in the school. Attendance was around 1500 in the middle school that I went to.  The end of 8 th grade through graduation was at Couch High school which is a rural school on the Missouri/ Arkansas border. Student enrollment in the entire district from Pre K-12 was 360 students. My graduating class was 32. Most of the students were related and had attended couch from headstart on. A lot of the teachers were homegrown and were graduates of Couch High School who had gone off to college and come back and spent their entire career in either Couch or one of the other local school districts nearby. There were very few outsiders.

Degree and intent after earning the degree  I am working on a MAED with concentration in Special Education.  Expectations after earning my degree- None. I love what I do and will continue to work as a para. When I was a Corrections officer 75% of the guys in the institution were special needs people. Our school systems tend to tell special needs students that they are special and allow them to make excuses for their actions based on their special need. That works just fine until they graduate and do something illegal. Then the judge doesn’t want to hear about their disability. They end up in prison. I try to set the example and help students learn to take responsibility for their actions and cope with the world around them in an acceptable manner. If I can do something that keeps even one of my students from doing prison time I will consider myself successful.

Quote by Ann Landers  Students need to become independent thinker and be able to provide self discipline. I will always do what is necessary to assist a student but if they have the capability to do the job themselves then that is what they need to do.