Her Story
About LaKiska
LaKiska Stokes serves as a professional development instructor at the central office of a school district in Alabama. With 24 years in her current district, her second school district overall, she focuses her expertise on supporting new teachers, especially those who are emergency certified, by providing coaching and targeted professional development in classrooms across 52 schools. Stokes began her career in elementary education, teaching third and fourth grade, and later advanced her qualifications with a master's degree in elementary education and an Education Specialist degree in education administration. Prior roles include serving as a curriculum instructional assistant and working in federal programs with high-poverty, low-performing schools, where her efforts contributed to schools improving their achievement scores and exiting state lists. She is a member of Kappa Delta Pi, her local education association, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, and has been recognized as Instructional Assistant of the month. Stokes attributes her success to the self-esteem and guidance instilled by her parents, and she advises trusting one's decisions when supporting educators.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with LaKiska
01What do you attribute your success to?
My success comes from my mother and father. I'm an only child and my dad was the only child, and I'm his only child. The way they poured into me, the self-esteem that I had when I left my house when I went to college, there was nothing that I didn't think I could do. It was the way that I was raised, the strength and the advice that they poured into me made me the person that I am today.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best advice I've ever received is to trust myself. A lot of times you'll go in and think oh my gosh I don't know if I'm doing the right thing, but with the training I've just been told to trust myself and trust your decisions. Because if you can help one teacher throughout the years then you've done something, you've impacted that teacher and every student that that teacher touches.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them that it is one of the most rewarding fields. If you're working with the students it's rewarding, if you get to be in a position like mine where you're actually working with the adults that will directly impact students. It's one of the most rewarding fields that there is. And you see immediate feedback, immediate turnaround on the things that are implemented. So that's what I would say, go for it, won't regret it.
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