ASMSA alum, now US diplomat, touts value of diversity in schools
Courtney “C.J.” Woods, a member of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Class of 1997, and current watch officer in the U.S. Department of State, spoke on the value of diversity at ASMSA’s Community of Learning Luncheon last week in the ASMSA Creativity and Innovation Complex.
The theme of Friday’s annual event was “Investing in Tomorrow,” as noted by ASMSA humanities instructor, Ernestine Ross, in her opening remarks.
“We are proud to be one of only 17 public residential high schools in the nation focusing on advanced educational opportunities in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the arts,” Ross said.
“Both public and private investment in these students is ultimately an investment in the future of our state. Our mission is to provide meaningful opportunities at ASMSA because we understand the importance of establishing a strong foundation while in high school,” she said.
Woods said when talking about “investing in tomorrow,” 25 years ago that was him the school and its supporters were investing in. He noted his experience in engaging with people of varying backgrounds — both at ASMSA and in years following — led to his professional and individual success.
“On the surface, you’re thinking: ‘We’re all the same.’ ‘We’re all from Arkansas.’ And that’s it. But once you start really getting to know people, you realize there’s a lot of diversity in the room. And that’s value,” he said.
He said while at Morehouse College — a private historically black men’s liberal arts college in Atlanta — that once he was willing to “really engage with people,” he started to realize how different everyone was and how that was a great thing.
“The fact we had so many different things to learn from each other, brought value to the school,” he said. “It brought value to my experience and it brought value to the experience of others.”
Raised in Eudora, Woods later received his master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Southern California following his graduation from Morehouse with an Education degree.
“And so I realized there’s something here with exchange; there’s something here with engagement; there’s something here with exposure. I still didn’t know at the time that being a diplomat and doing foreign service work was what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to do something that had an impact on me the way that I felt when I was at ASMSA,” he said.
Woods became an elementary school teacher before joining the U.S. Peace Corps. He noted he was stationed in Mozambique when, in a tiny village one day, he spotted a young boy wearing an Arkansas Razorbacks T-shirt.
This could have easily been a missed opportunity, but he said he recognized it as an opportunity to engage with someone and, perhaps, impact their life through education. Fluent in Portuguese, Woods spoke with the young boy and got to know him by talking about Arkansas. Little did he realize that some eight years later, the
“The fact we had so many different things to learn from each other, brought value to the school.”
— Courtney “C.J.” Woods
young man would enroll at the University of Arkansas on a Fulbright scholarship.
“It meant so much to me to know that that exchange that, I’m thinking, is me just speaking to a kid — just having a nice little simple conversation — forever changed their life,” he said. “In the sense of how, not only they value the importance of education, but them thinking, ‘I’m going to get the best possible experience by coming to Arkansas.’
“And so I can say that in my time in the past 11 years I’ve served in the foreign service and in every country that I’ve lived in overseas, the one thing that I try to do to make myself feel like, ‘OK, I’ve succeeded in my mission,’ is I try to get at least one person to have an American experience that involves the state of Arkansas.”
Being an ambassador, he said, is about understanding the value of one’s experience, and then ensuring other people also understand it. He said he is proud to serve as an ambassador, not just of the United States, but of the state of Arkansas and ASMSA.
“I didn’t have all this worked out when I was where you’re sitting. I am doing what I’m doing and I amaze people when I tell them that I have a degree in early childhood education,” he said.
“I did not take international affairs or political science or any of that stuff. It was my diversity that made me stand out. It was the different experiences and things that I had to bring to the table. I want people to understand why investment matters. When you’re investing in students here, it’s bigger than just those individual students. You’re investing in not just the state of Arkansas, but you’re investing in the impact that we can make around the world,” he said.
The luncheon also featured a speech from ASMSA senior Cameryn Berryhill and a performance by the ASMSA Choir under the direction of Deleen Davidson. ASMSA President Corey Alderdice and Director of Institutional Advancement Sara Brown also spoke.
Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts Director Corey Alderdice comments during Friday’s Community of Learning Luncheon.