Books, Banter, and Big Ideas: Mr. Hick's Guide to English (and Life)

If you’ve ever ended up in a classroom where grammar advice comes with life advice, and Shakespeare gets the therapy he probably needed, then welcome to Mr. Hicks’s world. Known for his calm presence, theatre roots, and firm belief that the journey matters more than the destination, Mr. Hicks teaches English the way it was meant to be taught: with heart, humour, and just the right touch of dramatic flair. (Dead Poets Society, watch your back).

Before the annotated novels and motivational chalkboard quotes, Mr. Hicks was just a kid growing up in Milton during the 1980s—then a small town. After high school, he enrolled at the University of Guelph, only to, in his own words, “very promptly flunk out.” But rather than viewing it as a failure, he wears the experience like a badge of honour—proof that the detours often teach us more than the destinations.

Eventually, he found his footing at Redeemer University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. There, he and a few classmates founded The Essential Player, a theatre company that put on everything from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) to You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown—where he played a fantastic Snoopy, Charlie Brown, and Schroeder. A true triple threat.

In 2009, while working on Beauty and the Beast with Theatre Ancaster, Mr. Hicks met his future wife. During that time, a family friend asked him the dreaded question: “What’s your five-year plan?” Wanting to impress, he blurted out, “Well… I’m going to be a teacher!” It was a bold claim—but not entirely out of nowhere. His father had been a teacher too, and the idea had always been in the back of his mind.

That comment soon became a calling. Mr. Hicks enrolled at Niagara University and earned his Master of Science in Education. Just like that, the next act of his story began—this time with a red pen in hand and a classroom full of soon-to-be grammar pros. His path to teaching wasn’t linear, but it was authentic. And if there's one thing he’ll always remind you of , it's that it’s okay not to have everything figured out from the start.

“Part of what I try to do as a teacher is tell those stories—the ‘and then I failed’ moments,” he says, reflecting on his philosophy. “There’s a lot of failure in my story, but I think that journey has made me a better person.”

Mr. Hicks often talks about how the education system works well for about 80% of students—but the remaining 20% tend to slip through the cracks. It’s those students he’s most determined to reach, though it becomes increasingly difficult in large classrooms. “Helping a student in a class of 33 is much more challenging. As soon as we go over 30, people start slipping through the cracks,” he says, noting how inequities in the system demand greater empathy, patience, and effort.

If you walk away from Mr. Hicks’s class with anything, it won’t just be a solid grasp of literary devices. It’ll be the sense that your voice matters, that writing can be powerful (and even fun), and that it’s perfectly okay to still be figuring things out.