Dr. Robert Bostic Stafford Municipal School District

from Top 50 P&E - 2021

Cenaca Cyprian Quality Lending Group, LLC

Dr. Robert Bostic

2021 TOP EDUCATOR

Superintendent Dr. Robert Bostic of the Stafford Municipal School District, has been dedicated to children and education for nearly 30 years. He has served as a teacher, supervisor, assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, and superintendent. Dr. Bostic is active in community, civic, and professional organizations. He is currently a member of the Texas Association of School Administrators, Texas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Texas Association of Suburban/Mid-Urban Schools, Texas Association of Mid-Sized Schools, Texas Alliance of Black School Educators, Mexican-American School Boards Association, Texas Caucus of Black School Board Members, Texas Computer Education Association, the Fort Bend Chamber Education Division, ACHIEVE Fort Bend County, and the Fort Bend Economic Development Council. Dr. Bostic also works regionally as one of the twenty appointees by the Texas Commissioner of Education to the Texas Education Agency Rural and Small Schools Task Force as well as nationally as the K-12 Co-Chair Advisory Representative for the Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, WA. In the Stafford Municipal School District, Dr. Bostic has been pleased to serve in leading the district to receive more than $300,000.00 from The George Foundation to found and implement a PK-12 robotics program that is highly successful. Dr. Bostic also generated a pivotal partnership with Smart Financial Credit Union to bring the only working banking institution to operate inside of a high school campus in Fort Bend County that pays student interns to be tellers and promote district-wide financial literacy. Dr. Bostic was highly instrumental in working with SMSD board members and state representatives to bring HB 601 to be pre-filed in the 85th Legislature. Under his leadership, SMSD has achieved multiple state academic distinctions. Dr. Bostic proudly leads with the philosophy that 100% of the district’s students will graduate college or career ready without remediation. As a lifelong technologist, he has led with a philosophy of “STEM to Earn,” which teaches students to think like employers not just as an employee. Before coming to SMSD, Dr. Bostic served as the Assistant Superintendent for Academic Programs at Denton ISD in Denton, TX. At DISD, Dr. Bostic made using “technology as a tool” a top priority to help teachers and administrators streamline their work with teaching and learning in the district and throughout Texas. As a past elementary and intermediate school principal for fifteen years in Carrollton Farmers Branch ISD, Richardson ISD, and Oklahoma City Public Schools, he brings knowledge from the campus level to central administration. Dr. Bostic also founded and instituted the largely successful Technology Integration Academy that is held each summer in Denton, TX, to this day. He founded and spearheaded the i-Bot competitive robotics league for elementary and middle school students, authored the districts application for the National Tech Savvy School Districts for 2009 and 2010 where under his direction, Denton ISD placed in the top ten in the nation for two consecutive years. He was the recipient of the Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) Administrator of the Year in 2008 and was also honored as top finalist for Technology Administrator of the Year in 2011. As a campus administrator, Dr. Bostic was successful in leading diverse campuses in Oklahoma City, Richardson, and Carrollton-Farmers Branch with student populations that had majority minority populations. Each of the campuses received ratings at the Recognized level or Exemplary level under his leadership. At his last campus he was a Texas Business Education Coalition Honor Roll Campus recipient. This annual award is considered to be the most prestigious award for sustained, academic excellence in Texas. According to TBEC, of the more than 8,000 Texas public schools, less than 4% make the Honor Roll. Dr. Bostic earned his Bachelor’s degree from Langston University and his Masters of Education degree from the University of Central Oklahoma. He earned his Superintendent’s Certificate and Doctorate in Education degree at the University of North Texas. Dr. Bostic enjoys professional sports tournaments, fishing, boating, and family time. He is happily married to his wife of 29 years, Ellen, and together they have two children, Paige, 26 years old, and Ethan, 19 years old. He is also the proud owner of a dapple dachshund, Roxy.

Dr. Robert Bostic Superintendent Stafford Municipal School District

www.staffordmsd.org

THIS FALL, STAFFORD MSD WILL OPEN THE STAFFORD STEM MAGNET ACADEMY THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE COUNTY!

Stafford MSD Superintendent Dr. Robert Bostic shares his philosophy on the importance of S.T.E.M. Education.

S.T.E.M to Learn and S.T.E.M to Earn

While working as an elementary principal in north Dallas, Texas in the early 2000’s and working as a Instructional Technology Director in Denton, Texas, I discovered that the children and teachers that I had the pleasure of leading were not familiar with the acronym S.T.E.M. While I’m sure S.T.E.M was already in the mindset of some prominent researchers and technologists, it still had not trickled down to the reality of many public schools where I worked. With staffing numbers of around 30 teachers on my elementary campus to a much larger school district with more than 3000 teachers, the results were the same in the early 2000’s. What is S.T.E.M? When surveyed, educators from all of my sample sets nodded their heads in agreement with blank stares of understanding but very few truly knew or had knowledge or an idea of what the acronym S.T.E.M meant. It’s 2021 and I’d still bet that if you did a quick survey of teachers on what the acronym S.T.E.M stands for that more than half of them would not be able to give the correct answer. In early 2004 I can still remember my excitement in bringing the idea of using the RCX Lego robotics kit and competing in FIRST Lego League to my teachers. The idea flopped. I mean it really fell flat. I tried my best to use my skill as a former teacher, orator, administrator and leader and head cheerleader to my staff to try to motivate teachers to sponsor an afterschool club for kids that just solely focused on robotics using Legos and their computer brick called the RCX. No way, no how, they were not going to volunteer to do this weird unknown work all to motivate S.T.E.M.

What is STEM?

“The STEM acronym was introduced in 2001 by scientific administrators at the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF).” (Hallinen, n.d.) According to Hallinen, STEM used to be named SMET which stood for the same thing but in a different order. Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. So you may ask yourself why was there such a big push for STEM and who cares anyway? Why STEM? Why now? A study done by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering and Institute of Medicine pointed out in their study titled Rising Above The Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Future, that 60% of surveyed scientists said America was in a decline in the areas of innovation in STEM and 40% said that we were stalled. (Institute of Medicine 2007, 2007) Thomas Friedman pointed out in his book, “ if you are an American, you better be good at the touchy-feely service stuff, because anything that can be digitized can be outsourced to either the smartest or the cheapest producer, or both.” (Friedman, 2006) My argument is that the clock is ticking and time is passing and I refuse to let students and staff that I know be left behind on the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics battleground.

Just the Facts

The Division of Occupational Employment Statistics and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, “There were nearly 8.6 million STEM jobs in May 2015, representing 6.2 percent of U.S. employment.” (Fayer, 2017) The same report also stated that most of the largest STEM occupations were related to computers. While this report did not focus purely on computers, it pointed out that more than six years ago we would be heading toward a large swath of careers that required at least some background or immersion in STEM occupations or STEM related fields. As superintendent, as a district administrator, as a principal, as a teacher, as a parent this is not a reality in many of the public schools and classrooms that I work in.

STEM to Learn

Now that we established a brief history on STEM and the sense of urgency on not being left behind, I turn to the school board members, district and campus administrators and educators and want to introduce STEM to Learn. STEM to Learn is an intentional philosophy that educators, parents and community leaders immerse their students and staff in STEM activities, project-based learning activities and competitions that prompt and encourage students to want to learn more about STEM activities, STEM philosophy, and STEM jobs inside and outside of the classroom. Ultimately STEM to Learn is a precept before STEM to Earn. (Robert Bostic, 2020) There are many examples of STEM to Learn in action. These examples include but are not limited to: • Having students participate in Lego Robotics in FIRST Lego

League is an example of STEM to Learn. • Having students learn SWIFT Coding is an example of STEM to Learn. • Having students learn Minecraft is an example of STEM to

Learn. • Having students learn Gaming is an example of STEM to

Learn. • Having students learn Drone manipulation is an example of

STEM to Learn. • Having students learn how AI – Artificial Intelligence affects their daily lives is an example of STEM to Learn. • Incentivizing or helping to reimburse teachers for getting higher education degrees in computer science, coding, health, engineering, and mathematics is an example of STEM to

Learn.

STEM to Earn

“The supply of STEM workers is not keeping pace with the rapidly evolving needs of the public and private sector, resulting in a deficit often referred to as a STEM skills shortage.” (Congress, 2020) STEM to Earn is a philosophy that we are training today’s students (young, middle or older) to become earners in the STEM economy as workers for companies that use Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics as their driver to success. Or we can look at STEM to Earn as a philosophy that we are training today’s students (young, middle or older) to become entrepreneurs, military personnel, creators or innovators that use Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics as their driver to build their craft. In any event, the combined philosophy is built on an infinite mindset that we are training every man, woman and child to be drivers of their own destiny in a world that is so driven by the scorecard of technology, power, money and innovation. (Robert Bostic, 2020)

Bibliography

• Congress, U. S. (2020, September 17). Rural

STEM Education Act. Retrieved from https://www. congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/4979/ text#HA938B922DF41469584319B28C93A9C51 • Fayer, L. W. (2017). STEM Occupations: Past, Present, And

Future. Washington DC: Division of Occupational Employment

Statistics. • Friedman, T. L. (2006). The World is Flat. New York: Farrar,

Straus and Giroux. • Hallinen, J. (n.d.). STEM education curriculum. Retrieved

February 18, 2021 • Institute of Medicine 2007. (2007). Rising Above the Gathering

Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter

Economic Future. Washington DC: The National Academies

Press. • Robert Bostic, E. (2020, July 16). STEM to Learn and STEM to Earn. (E. Robert Bostic, Performer) Region IV Annual

Technology Conference: Digital Innovations, Houston.