Kolbe Ricks

Background

About Kolbe Ricks

The things I love most are traveling, learning, and communicating! I can’t stop thinking about ways to revolutionize public education in the US and trying to enact some change in my small corner of the world. I spend my free time traveling, so ask me for recommendations! I’m here to work with teachers, admin, districts, and anyone else who is interested in improving their practice. My expertise is in advanced academics, secondary English language arts, culturally relevant pedagogy, and developing cultural capital. I've traveled to more than 25 countries and took my first international trip when I was just four-years-old. Being on the move is something that is a part of me and I can't imagine not traveling or moving from city to city. My favorite way to travel is on the fly with a loose plan and see where each day takes me. My background is in journalism, where I ran the features desk at a small daily newspaper, freelanced for the Austin-American Statesman, and continued honing my communication skills as a teacher. My writing experience comes in the form of pitching and reporting stories, assigning stories to reporters, copy editing, and page design for the newspaper. I have more than 10 years of experience as a 6-12 grade teacher across Advanced Placement English Literature and Composition, creative writing, and the AVID elective. For the 2023-24 school year, I will be a pilot teacher for AP African American Studies. Outside of teaching, I've coached cross country and swimming. I've sponsored the senior class, led class trips, hosted prom, and managed the logistics for graduation ceremonies. I have successfully led effective school faculty professional learning sessions and 1:1 coaching for teachers. Now for the boring experience stuff: Google, Adobe, and Microsoft, and Canva and using tools like Slack, Loom, Zoom, and Canvas. I have initiated training for staff of more than 70, facilitated 1:1 mentoring/coaching, developed curriculum, and its implementation, gathered and managed data, and written and presented information for many audiences.