After 23 years, Starkville School District veteran continues to make a difference

When asked what the key is to being a successful administrator, Dr. Bob Fuller believes that it’s “being naïve enough to think you can make a difference because if you believe you can—even in one student’s life—then you just might do it.

Early in his career, Fuller took his own advice, which led him from the classroom to middle school administration to helping develop a new partnership between the Starkville Oktibbeha County Consolidated School District and Mississippi State University. 

Fuller began his teaching career as an industrial arts teacher at what is now the Millsaps Career and Technology Center in the SOCSD. After a few years, he felt his calling was to help a larger group of students and he went back to school at Mississippi State to earn a master’s in school counseling. Becoming qualified to become a school administrator, he then was named vice principal at Armstrong Middle School in the SOCSD, eventually retiring from AMS. 

On his decision to become an AMS administrator, Fuller explained that while he loved teaching and being a counselor at the Millsaps Center, he wanted to work with more students decided middle schoolers were a good choice.

 “I had never had any experience in middle school and had taught mostly ninth graders and a few 10th graders. It was a learning curve for me to work with seventh and eighth graders because they are different from ninth and 10th graders. I absolutely loved it. I think I understood them and, hopefully, they understood me as well.”

A 23-year veteran of the SOCSD, Fuller is now the coordinator of the district’s Partnership School at Mississippi State, a role he decided to pursue after learning more about the new, collaborative education effort that will serve all sixth and seventh graders. 

Fuller said, “Middle school is a unique time for students. They’re venturing out, becoming more social, and trying to discover themselves. It’s a huge transition, so it’s important that as educators we provide a safety net for them.

“We’ve got to understand, support, and give them opportunities to branch out, but also catch them when things don’t go their way. Hopefully, we’ve created a school that meets the needs of the kids and the community,” he explained.

Fuller received his bachelor’s in industrial education, master’s in counselor education and Ph.D. in elementary, middle and secondary education administration all from Mississippi State. A Winston County native, Fuller has three daughters who attend the SOCSD.