It is with great pleasure we announce Rich Smith will begin work as the Behavior Health Coordinator for Dickinson Public Schools District in July of 2023.
Rich started his educational career as a secondary social studies teacher in Arizona in 2004 and taught at the middle and high school levels for five years. In 2009, Rich moved to post-secondary education with student affairs at the Center of Student Organizations and Leadership Development at Saint Cloud State University (SCSU). He earned a master’s degree in College Counseling and Student Development with Chi Sigma Iota honors. Following SCSU, he was named Director of Student Life at Mayville State University in 2011. Important work during this time was a collaboration of civic engagements from campus and community, inter-department consolidation of events and programming, the movement of Title IX pre-federal regulations, the development of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug interventions, and the implementation of living-learning communities.
Yearning to return to K-12 education, Rich taught special education and social studies for four years before he moved to Dickinson, ND, and accepted the elementary assistant principal position. In 2020, he earned a master’s in Secondary Administration at the University of Mary.
Rich was born and raised in central North Dakota. He is married to North Dakota native, Amy Roness, and together they share three children and one golden lab. In his free time, he enjoys hunting, hiking, camping, watching and playing with his children, and getting together with friends and family. Rich will assume his new role on July 1.