Bobbie Sargent, PhD
Benefits Advisor
Bobbie is a generous listener with a disposition for action who shares, “Education taught me how to care for people and life taught me how to do something about it.”
As a lifelong educator, Bobbie began her career in Annapolis, Maryland teaching middle school mathematics, advancing throughout her tenure to serve as team leader, department chair, curriculum writer, curriculum and instructional specialist, and math interventionist. Each of these positions provided her with a new perspective on the education of young people.
Bobbie became practiced in the art of understanding the viewpoints and values of others to develop and design personalized plans of action to improve the conditions for learning. As an education leader, she enjoyed sharing those skills with others in the interest of increasing opportunities for other educators and their students.
Continuing to follow her passion for lifelong learning, Bobbie earned her PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy from the University of Indiana, Bloomington. Through this pursuit, she came to understand what it means to be a critical thinker and how to make critical thinking a habit of mind. This valuable skill, coupled with her practical field experience lends to Bobbie’s keen ability to identify and pursue creative solutions for complex problems.
As an eternal student, Bobbie Iooks for ways to gain insight into the “why”. She seeks to understand others and is excited by opportunities that allow her to collaborate in ways that make a meaningful and long-lasting impact.
Bobbie earned a Bachelors degree from the University of Kentucky (go Cats!) in Education before moving to Maryland where she earned a Masters in Middle School Education from Walden University. Later, she earned a PhD from Indiana University, Bloomington.
Bobbie has been a voice of knowledge and insight in the Education industry with additional accomplishments and engagements to include:
- Author – Understanding Critical Thinking: Bridging Theory and Practice
- United Council of Educational Administration Speaker – Understanding Critical Thinking: Bridging Theory and Practice
- Global Gateways Education Keynote Speaker, 2 consecutive years – Classroom Management: A Practitioner’s Perspective
- Differentiated Instruction Leadership Conference Speaker
- Kentucky Middle School Association Conference Presenter
Bobbie is deeply committed to supporting the pursuit of individual agency by serving as a steering committee member for United Way Women United.
United Way Women United two signature causes are Early Childhood Education and Gender Equity. Through advocacy, volunteerism, and philanthropy of its members United Way Women United is able to do the work of increasing access to high-quality childcare and supporting female empowerment to improve health, access to education and financial well-being for both women and children.
Bobbie is always ready for a new adventure! Whether that means moving her family in the dead of winter from Maryland to Indiana for new opportunities or backpacking the mountains of Sawtooth National Park in Idaho, she is always game.
Her favorite activities are ones that are hard but have a positive enduring effect. She loves yoga because it trains the mind, loves reading because there is always something to learn, and she loves her family because they are her North Star.