By Patti Parish-Kaminski –
According to the Boy Scout Law, a scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind and courteous – among other things. And when you get to know this GEM of Fort Bend, you immediately recognize those traits in this Boy Scout, elected official and community servant who has dedicated his life to serving youth in Fort Bend County.
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, James D. Rice spent most of his childhood in the Midwest, son of a high school English teacher and a Cub Scout Den Leader. In 1960, he moved to Casa Grande, Arizona during a period when many families were moving west. “Arizona offered a better climate, and the west afforded more opportunities for many people,” said Rice. He stayed out west moving to California for high school and then ultimately, to Houston in 1973.
Rice began his career in Houston as an engineer, and on a project for an area church in 1978, he met an architect who changed his life. The architect was Mary J. Walker. The two were married in 1980, and by 1981, they decided to move to Fort Bend County.
“Mary and I moved to Fort Bend to put down roots and raise our family,” said Rice. The Rice’s first home was in Sugar Land in Colony Bend. “As a child, my family moved around quite a bit, and Mary and I wanted our children to grow up in the same house and attend the same elementary, middle and high schools and church.”
Fort Bend in the early 80s was quite different than the Fort Bend we know today. The Rice’s found the bucolic community very appealing. “When we moved here, Highway 6 was a two lane road,” recalled Rice. “The only grocery store was Gerland’s in Sugar Creek, and you could still see prisoners working the fields with guards on horseback. Riverstone was the Frost Ranch, and there wasn’t even a McDonald’s.”
Settling in Sugar Land, the Rice family grew to include three sons: David, Daniel and Douglas. The young Rice family was active members of their church, Christ United Methodist, and the church had Cub Scout Pack. Once again, the architect who changed Rice’s life by becoming his wife was about to offer a suggestion that would once again, change his life.
“Mary came to me and said that the church was having a meeting of parents who wanted to put their sons in Cub Scouts,” recalled Rice. “I told Jim that just in case they needed an adult leader, he should go and volunteer and that I would help him,” said Mary.
Of course, the group needed adult leaders, and of course, Rice volunteered to step up. This began Rice’s 22 year commitment to an organization that clearly has his heart: Boy Scouts of America.
All of the Rice boys went through Boy Scout Troop 441, all earning the rank of Eagle Scout with dad serving in every leadership capacity from Den Leader to Cubmaster to Troop Committee Chairman. “Boy Scouts teaches young men how to be servant leaders,” said Rice. “From the time they enter Boy Scouts in their fifth grade year, they must be leaders, and they learn by example.” From the responsibilities of planning and preparing food to setting up a camp site on camping trips, lessons taught by Scout leaders reinforce the Boy Scout Motto of “be prepared.”
“The boys learn leadership from camping,” shared Rice, who went on “more camping trips than I can recall. By assigning them the duties associated with camping, they learn from their mistakes. They are going to forget something. They are going to have challenges getting their peers to do their chores first instead of play. They learn lessons about leadership that they won’t forget. They don’t even realize that they are learning valuable lessons, but they are.”
Rice’s philosophy on community service can be summed up by the four citizenship merit badges each Scout is required to earn. “There are four citizenship merit badges all designed to teach young men how to be good citizens: citizenship in the community, in the nation, in the world and in your family. The boys learn by osmosis. It’s fun with a purpose.”
Rice’s service to his church did not end with the scouts. For over ten years, he served on various building committees and as a confirmation leader, once again, serving Fort Bend’s youth.
Perhaps one of the most important ways Rice continually serves Fort Bend youth is public education. In 2010, Rice was asked to think about running for Fort Bend ISD School Board Trustee. “It was a very difficult time to be elected to the school board,” recalled Rice. “There were many financial challenges with school funding. Nothing in politics gets people worked up more than their kids and their money, and rightly so. Being a trustee for public education is a vitally important role in our community.”
Rice was successful in his election and is currently the Fort Bend ISD Board President. He compares his time on the school board to his time in Scouts. “I learned that education is much like Scouts. Scouting exists in your living room, your back yard, at the district level and at the world level – on many different levels. The school system is much the same – existing at different levels from the classroom, campus, district, state and federal level. The higher you go in the levels, the further you get from the boys or the students.”
Remaining close to the issues impacting the students is of utmost importance to Rice. “Public education is very complex. We have to make decisions regarding a student’s overall education – transportation, nutrition, rezoning, mature neighborhoods – not just academics. We have to get all of our kids prepared to be successful in life.”
Rice devotes much of his time to the students of Fort Bend ISD. “My goal is to help educate our community on the vital issues that affect public education. Everyone must be held accountable in public education. We are testing our kids to death; we must back off on that. It is untenable and wrong. We must find ways for all of our students to be successful. Not all students will go to college, but I believe all can be educated to be successful.”
In addition to Rice’s ongoing commitment to the school board and the Boy Scouts, he is the co-founder of Fort Bend Cares, an organization dedicated to serving the disadvantaged children and youth of Fort Bend by providing supplemental funds to the organizations in our community who support disadvantaged youth. He also serves as a board member on the Fort Bend Literacy Council and the Fort Bend Regional P16 Council. The P16 Council’s mission is to create a college and career-going culture among students from pre-school through college graduation and to promote life-long learning.
“In Fort Bend, we have been blessed by good elected city and county leaders who have helped provide stability so our community can grow. We’re very fortunate; we can’t take it for granted. We must be good stewards of our community,” said Rice.
Rice credits his wife, Mary, for his ability to serve our community’s youth. “I couldn’t do any of this without the love and support of my wife. When you have these long meetings, which are contentious at times, you need someone to come home to and tell about your day. Without Mary, I could not have participated in any of these endeavors.”
When asked what he would like his legacy of service to be, Rice cited the Scout Oath: “I hope people think I did my best.” For always doing your best for the youth of Fort Bend, absolutely! Brazos and Fort Bend Focus Magazines are proud to honor James D. Rice as a GEM of Fort Bend.