Just three months into her first year, Cierra Adkin’s joy for what she does is unmistakable. “I tell myself every morning, ‘you’ve officially been a Speech Language Pathologist for three months now!” she laughs. “After six years of college, it’s the best feeling in the world to finally be doing something I truly love.”

Cierra grew up in Olive Branch and graduated from Century High School in 2018. Unsure of her path, she took a semester off, then enrolled at Shawnee Community College to earn her general education credits before transferring to Southeast Missouri State University. While at Shawnee, something happened that changed everything — her younger sister was struggling to learn to read.

“She had a lot of trouble with language and comprehension,” Cierra recalls. “Everything had to be read aloud to her because she couldn’t recognize even simple words on her own. Watching her struggle like that broke my heart — but it also gave me my direction.”

Cierra began exploring communication disorders and discovered the field of speech-language pathology, which combines her interests in education and psychology. “I wanted to understand how we develop language and how to help when things don’t come easily,” she says.

After completing her associate’s degree at Shawnee, she transferred to SEMO, earning her bachelor’s degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in psychology. She stayed on for her master’s, completing the program in May 2025. During her clinical placements, she worked with both children and adults — one semester in an elementary school, another at the Marion VA Hospital. “I loved both,” she says, “but I knew my heart was with the kids.”

That heart brought her to Cairo. The district hadn’t had an in-person speech therapist in several years, relying instead on virtual services. “From the moment I interviewed, everyone made me feel so welcome,” Cierra says. “The staff here — the secretaries, the principals, Dr. Griffin — they were all amazing. It’s such a community-driven district, and everyone genuinely wants to help one another.”

Her schedule is a daily mix of pre-K giggles and high-school vocabulary lessons. Mornings are spent at the elementary school, where she works with students from preschool through sixth grade on articulation, language development, and fluency. After lunch, she drives over to the junior/senior high to meet with her older students.

“Working with such a wide range of ages keeps my day exciting,” she says. “One minute I’m helping a kindergartner say their S’s clearly, and the next I’m working with a teenager on understanding vocabulary or forming complete sentences. No two sessions are ever the same.”

In addition to therapy, Cierra conducts assessments to identify new students who might need services. “Teachers will refer students who seem to be struggling, and I’ll do a screening to see if further testing is needed,” she explains. “Some of those kids join my caseload, and others just need a little extra support in the classroom.” Currently, she serves between 35 and 40 students across the district.

For Cierra, her work is more than improving speech — it’s about helping students find confidence. “Sometimes there’s a stigma when people hear ‘special education’ or ‘speech therapy,’” she says. “But what happens in my room is beautiful. Watching a student go from frustration to pride, from struggling to saying, ‘I did it!’ — that’s the best part.”

She also works to educate families about what speech services mean. “I tell parents I’m on their team,” she says. “When a child succeeds, we all succeed — me, the student, and the family. And because we live in a rural area, having these services in school is huge. Families don’t have to drive thirty or forty minutes for therapy or pay out of pocket. Their kids get the help they need right here.”

Cierra encourages parents to celebrate progress, not just focus on challenges. “I always tell them, call me when something goes well — when they say a sound correctly, or use a new word in a sentence,” she says. “We’re not deficit-driven here; we’re strength-driven.”

Her sessions always begin with a conversation. “The first thing I asked all my students this year was, ‘Why do you come to speech?’” she says. “I want them to understand this isn’t just playtime. I want them to have buy-in. Once they do, you can see the spark — they start to believe in what they’re learning.”