Richard Curtis, MsEd

Current Position: K-12 STEAM Coordinator in New Hope-Solebury School District and Host of “The ClassH-Room” on Fox 29

After spending ten years as a technology education teacher at Souderton Area High School where he helped build an extremely popular media program, Richard Curtis found himself asking, “Is this it? Am I done?”

While he loved his position and felt immense pride for what he had built, Richard wanted more out of his career. When an opportunity to become a K-12 STEM Coordinator within the New Hope-Solebury School District came about, Richard hopped at the chance for growth.

“I said, ‘Okay, let’s do a career change here still within technology.’ Basically, it gives me the ability to work up and down K-12 and really dig in my heels again and say, ‘Let’s build something here’,” Richard shared.

Outside of his role as K-12 STEAM Coordinator, Richard also works in the media for Fox29. On Wednesday evenings, Richard hosts his own television show called “The ClassH-Room,” which features three students and three teachers going head-to-head in a game show. He also works for Varsity Spirit as an on-air announcer for the Cheerleading & Dance National Championships which airs on ESPN and are shot in Disney World.

He has been with the New Hope-Solebury School District for three years now. In the time since he’s started as K-12 STEAM Coordinator, Richard has learned that his place of work values its teachers pursuing secondary dreams. When he learned this, Richard began to consider knocking on closed doors to see what opportunities may await him. That’s when he started to research GMercyU’s EdD program.

“It was actually my mentor administrator here that said, ‘I think you’d be perfect for a candidate to be jumping into GMercyU’s online doctorate program,’” said Richard.

Richard was ecstatic to receive a recommendation from his mentor teacher. Not only did he feel a rush of appreciation for his mentor’s belief in him, but he felt the overwhelming sense of wanting to do well for his mentor, which pushed him to apply.

“So, I have this media background, I have a really cool educational journey I’ve been on, and maybe the next stage is pushing that out to others, let them in on my successes, so it can be replicated elsewhere,” shared Richard. “And in that case, it sounds a lot better as Dr. Curtis than it does Mr. Curtis.”

When asked why he ultimately chose to pursue his doctorate, Richard said, “The euphoria you feel on what you’re accomplishing is tremendous and something that everybody should experience and so few little do because they don’t want to do the work. So, when you do it, it just matters so much and it gives you so much respect for everybody else that has those letters behind their name.”

Why GMercyU?

Aside from his mentor’s recommendation, Richard was also influenced by Dr. Ray Bandlow, Professor of Education Policy and Program Director for Doctoral Studies at GMercyU.

“It was when I sat down with Dr. Bandlow in the pre-interview and it was the way he spoke about what GMerycU has to offer and the people he’s looking for. This isn’t just ‘come one, come all.’ He is hand picking these people that he feels would be a great fit for GMercyU’s mission,” Richard said.

In that conversation with Dr. Bandlow, the two touched on ease of access throughout the program. For Richard, ease of access was a crucial selling point given that he has several jobs and did not want to be bogged down by more work.

I remember getting teary-eyed when Dr. Bandlow said, ‘You’re in.' You think, ‘Yeah, I’m in’. You just feel like your heart could explode with happiness because you see the success stories and you know what it means to push yourself, and this is just another great way to do that.

GMercyU Experience

Richard has found immense value in all of his coursework, specially the courses that covered topics that don’t pertain to his everyday career, such as Special Education. When it was first added to his schedule, he wasn’t sure what kind of knowledge he’d gain from the course.

“Every teacher in high school and middle school should have to take this course to understand what Special Education teachers go through, but more importantly, how to connect with your students,” Richard said. “It’s been one of my most rewarding classes to date.”

Of all his courses, Richard found his Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion course to be the most uncomfortable. The material forced him to look within at his own unconscious biases and reflect on how they may or may not affect those around him.

The course made him think, “Why am I doing the things that I’m doing? How is it affecting my students that are sitting directly in front of me every day?” It’s forced Richard and his classmates to think deeply about the mission of GMercyU and how living the mission is about reflecting on oneself to become a better person.

Yes, we want to make educators and we want to make great leaders and teachers, but I think the mission is that you just want to make great people. And I feel like this degree really helps you do that through the class selections and what you have to take.

Richard has really enjoyed his cohort members, too, saying that, “There’s nothing better than your cohort. You come in, you’re nervous, you have no idea what you’re doing, but you quickly become a family. You get to learn alongside these professionals for the next three years together and build towards a common goal.”

Dissertation Process

Since beginning the program, Richard has changed his dissertation topic several times because he couldn’t find his passion… until he did.

“I ended up finalizing on the greatest topic ever and now it’s something that sparks me,” Richard said. “My topic is ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN SECONDARY EDUCATION: A PHENOMENOLOGICAL EXPLORATION OF AI UTILIZATION AMONG HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS AND SENIORS.”

Richard interviewed 200 high school students across districts to answer questions like, why are students using AI? How are they using it? What are they using it for?

While the process of obtaining the rights to interview students was tough, Richard had connections who helped him achieve his goal.

Richard had the privilege of having his mentor teacher serve as his dissertation advisor. He recalled questioning his decision in fear that it would not go well, but his decision proved to be valuable.

I didn’t realize how hand-in-hand this is. It’s just as much their voice as it is yours. So, to have somebody that believes in you wholeheartedly and pushing you to be better and then challenging you on things is invigorating and I’ve had such a tremendous success with my mentor teacher.

Throughout the process, Richard had the love and support from friends and family. Although, his friends weren’t always happy with him when he had to miss out on fun. To honor them, Richard put them in his dedication page saying, “To all my friends and every party I’ve missed, let’s rage.”

Richard plans to defend his dissertation in November and will share his finding upon graduation.

EdD Residency

As part of the program, EdD students complete a residency in Ireland, a true hallmark of the program.

“You go to a country with 90 like-minded people to one of the most welcoming countries in the entire world in Ireland, and you have one of the best cultural lifetime moments,” Richard said.

He recalled sitting in classrooms with students from across the globe and feeling like he belonged to a family. The networking opportunities he had were endless, from connecting with superintendents to fellow teachers.

“Then, for my dissertation, that doesn’t happen without a residency. That doesn’t happen without having to into an Irish pub, sitting down next to someone you don’t know, and having a conversation,” Richard said.

It’s the best thing that I’ve experienced in my life as an educator or my life as a student. And it gave me so much foothold for the next journey that I’m going on.

His biggest takeaway from residency was to “dream big.”

So, what’s Richard’s advice?

"I want you to put that dream aside because you’re going to dream even bigger because you have the outlets to do it. You have the people behind you and you have that fan club,” Richard shared. “You want every single person in your cohort that you came in with to be wildly successful and you’ll help each other out to do that in any way possible.”

                                      

Post-Graduation Plans

When asked what he plans to do with his new degree after graduating in December 2024, Richard answered with a quote his grandmother used to say. “If you want to be successful, you have to be ready one hundred percent of the time for nothing.”

Simply put, he doesn’t have any specific plans, but he intends to be ready for whatever life has to throw at him.

“I sit in some of these classes and people are so planned and know exactly what they want and where they’re going. Things just happen and I’m just going to be ready,” said Richard. “And this degree just gives me the ability to be that much more ready.

Despite not completing his degree yet, Richard has already seen a shift in his teaching habits since becoming a student in GMercyU’s EdD program. The program has encouraged him to open his mind to new viewpoints and challenged him in ways he never expected.

“Not only have I changed as an educator, but I’ve changed as a person and that’s what I think is most exciting about all of this,” Richard said.