Dr. Daisy Hicks was appointed as superintendent of Buckingham County Public Schools during a ceremony at the Buckingham County Clerk’s Office Sept. 5.

At 6 p.m. Sept. 5, the county held a reception that included representatives from the Buckingham County Board of Supervisors.

Hicks began as superintendent Monday.

“I’m very excited to be back in Buckingham County with the community and students and staff and parents,” Hicks said in a phone interview Sept. 5. “I’m looking forward to serving them as their educational leader, and just making great things happen in Buckingham County with the team that’s already here.”

Hicks most recently served as the Director of Human Resources, Operations and Testing in Nottoway County Public Schools, where her last day will be Friday. She served as principal of Gold Hill Elementary School in Buckingham from 2007 to 2009 and was an assistant principal of Cumberland County Middle School. In addition to starting her teaching career at Prince Edward County Middle School, Hicks also worked in Brunswick County Public Schools and Amelia County Public Schools.

“I kind of went around Region 8,” Hicks joked.

Hicks said her first job was at the Virginia Department of Corrections. It was there she became inspired to pursue her career in education.

“I just saw young people, 18, 19-year-olds coming into that environment and I just kept thinking to myself: ‘What is going wrong?” ‘What can I do?’ ‘How can someone make a difference?’” Hicks said. “So I decided to experiment a little bit and go into the education field starting off as a teacher’s aide. And once I got there I just got the love for the students.”

Hicks’ decision to pursue education and administration led her to earn a Doctor of Educational Leadership from Virginia Commonwealth University, an Education Specialist Degree from Cambridge College, a master’s degree in Instruction from Central Michigan University and Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from Saint Paul’s College.

Hicks, who grew up in Amelia County, said she is excited to work in a community very similar to the one she was raised.

“There’s great people over here in Buckingham,” Hicks said. “I feel like I fit right in.”