An unknown person once said, “Never stop learning because life never stops teaching.” Perhaps living by that motto is decorated scholar and St. Louis native Erica Bumpers. Bumpers, 40, is associate professor of Education and Director of Field Experience at Missouri Baptist University, where she’s served for three years.
Before working at Missouri Baptist, Bumpers earned an assortment of degrees and awards. She first obtained a B.S. in Secondary Education/English from St. Louis’ only HBU, Harris-Stowe State University. She went on to get a M.A. and Ed.S in Education Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Bumpers didn’t stop there. She continued through school and earned a Ph.D. from Illinois State University in Education Administration Foundations with an emphasis in K-12 education.
According to estimates by the U.S. census bureau, in 2013, 22 percent of black woman have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 30 percent for all women. When asked what inspired her to continue her education journey, Bumpers said, “It was about making a difference in education.”
“To give students the opportunity they don’t know they have was very important to me,” said Bumpers. “I knew that just having a bachelor’s degree would not really make the change, but the further I got in my education, I felt that somebody would actually listen to me because I have these letters behind my name.”
Bumpers is a first-generation college student. She said from an early age her parents instilled the importance of education in her upbringing. After receiving her doctorate degree, Bumpers was assistant professor and coordinator of Teacher Seminars at California University of Pennsylvania (CalU) in the Department of Secondary Education. She taught courses in Multiculturalism, Teaching/Assessment of English, and Educational Foundations courses to future teacher candidates.
While at CalU, Bumpers was the recipient of the Grant Writer’s Fellowship Program and awarded the Diversity and Equity Research Scholars Grant from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education.
Although now teaching elementary school again, Bumpers says her current role is to help make soon-to-be teachers aware of diversity before they go into the field.
“[Teacher candidates] should not be fearful to go into a certain type of setting based on what they hear or certain stereotype,” Bumpers told The American. “It doesn’t matter where you are, if you are called to teach, then it shouldn’t matter the race, class, or gender of students.”
After leaving CalU, Bumpers began working with STI Achievement Services, currently known as Chalkable, as a school improvement specialist. Bumpers was awarded the Frederick Douglass Teaching Scholars Fellowship at West Chester University, a program committed to cultural diversity, equity and access, providing professional experiences within the university.
She was also awarded a Summer Fellowship Program in Applied Multi-Ethnic Research at the University of Michigan.
Bumpers serves as a board member on the St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund, which is charged with the task of evaluating programs that directly impact the youth of St. Louis County. In 2010, she founded Meeb’s Angels, a non-for profit organization, designed to engage African American young ladies and help them to further develop their intellect, decision-making skills, character, and self-confidence.
“What I find in a lot of African-American girls, is they have self-identity issues and problems,” Bumpers said. “They don’t feel good about themselves. If I can help them to overcome that, and show beauty lies deep within, It would them to get to the next level.” With her organization Bumpers has awarded one young lady with a scholarship.
Bumpers says she came back to the St. Louis region because she wanted to help her hometown community. “In a way, I reached the highest level and I was giving to another city,” Bumpers told The American. “St. Louis was having so many issues educationally, why not come back and do some things here that are really impactful and effective? That’s why I came back here.”
This story is published as part of a partnership between The Huffington Post and The St. Louis American.
