VIDEO: Dr. Art McCoy Shows a Transformative Career and Life Path for At-Risk Students

Date Posted: October 10, 2019

Posted In: Discussion, Ideas, Workforce,

“We cannot always improve society for our youth,” Dr. Art McCoy once told a Construction Forum STL audience, “but we can improve our youth for society.”

Dr. McCoy, now superintendent of the Jennings School District, was one of the first speakers to appear before Construction Forum STL in July of 2015, speaking on the importance of teaching critical thinking and STEM education to at-risk students.

On July 18 of this year he appeared before a TEDx audience in Clayton, speaking on the topic of,”Empowering, Enlightening, and Engaging Schools to Transform Society”. He described for the TEDx Clayton audience the holistic pathway that Jennings School District has taken to transforming the lives of its students and their families.

Art McCoy, who is a member of the Construction Forum Education Foundation Board, began his  educational  career at 19  as a math teacher in the Rockwood School District after graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s of Science — reportedly as the youngest certified teacher ever in Missouri.

In December 2010, Dr. McCoy became the youngest and first African-American Superintendent/CEO of Ferguson-Florissant School District at age 33 and a leader for Harvard’s Pathways to Prosperity. He was Superintendent-in-Residence at the MIND Research Institute and Base 11 in Irvine, California from 2014 to 2016. In March 2016, he became superintendent in Jennings School District.

Under his leadership, the 2017 and 2018 graduating Jennings class achieved 100% graduation, career, and college placement among the seniors.