CHICAGO (CBS) — Officials from Leo High School on the South Side admit they were skeptical when a young woman applied for a job as a math teacher and boxing coach, but they gave her a shot.
As CBS 2’s Megan Mawicke reports, it didn’t take long for Kim Hickey to win their respect for her passion and for thinking outside the box.
Just 5-feet tall and 100 pounds, Kim Hickey is knocking down stereotypes. She’s an assistant boxing coach at the all-male Leo High School where 90% of the students are African American.
“It’s surprising how many similar experiences as a person I have with these boys, even though I am this blonde petite white female from Winnetka,” says Kim Hickey, Leo assistant boxing coach.
“Honestly, I was hesitant at first, but the kids love her. It doesn’t matter if you’re black or white or whatever color, if the kids see that you care and love them they will respond well to you and that is what happened here at Leo,” adds school principal Phillip Mesina.
The 24-year-old attended New Trier High school and honed her skills in the ring at Notre Dame. Now she’s coaching 30 boxers and stresses character building over competition.
“They’ve had struggles at other schools, at home, (so) we bring them to the gym and it really helps bring them an outlet for their emotion and we teach them how to compose themselves,” adds Hickey.
“We were like “Who is this Miss Hickey?” Then we saw her in the ring a couple of times and said wow she really knows what she is doing. She is always strong and assertive, never lets you slack off,” says high school boxer Darioun Smith, Jr.
“She has really earned her respect around us, so we really appreciate her at Leo, I appreciate her a lot. She’s taught me so much about life, school and boxing,” adds boxer Kendall Smith.
“We’re very excited to have her. They all respect her. She does not suffer fools. I just hope we can keep her around,” says Leo boxing coach Mike Joyce.
“I think it will be rewarding to see how they grow. To see how they’ve matured and the lessons they’ve learned as people,” adds Hickey.
