Biography of Dr. Sroka

Stephen R. Sroka, Ph.D.
Steve grew up in poverty in a housing project. His third grade report card read, “Parent notified boy is retarded.” In the ninth grade, he had two hip operations and was told that he may never walk again. The doctor told him he better start to listen to his teachers. And, as he tells students today, the more he listened, the smarter the teachers became. Education was the only way out of the ghetto for Steve.

Today, Dr. Stephen Sroka is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, author, teacher and educational consultant on sex, drugs and violence education to departments of education and health throughout the world, including Guam, England, Switzerland, Guatemala and the Cayman Islands. He has made hundreds of professional presentations locally, nationally and internationally. He has spoken thousands of times in schools (K-12) including five school systems in the news with school violence, as well as in hospitals, colleges, churches, Indian reservations, clinics, and various community settings. He has served as a consultant to the Centers for Disease Control.

Dr. Sroka is an Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Medicine, Division of Adolescent Health, Case Western Reserve University, an Adjunct Associate Professor of Health Education at Cleveland State University and President of his company, Health Education Consultants. Recently he retired as a teacher and member of a crisis response team from the Cleveland Public Schools after 30 years. He is married and has four daughters.

He has authored a dozen books and over 30 articles. His Educator’s Guide to HIV/AIDS and other STD’s (1st edition in 1984 and now in its 50th printing), was recommended by the U.S. Department of Education, and by former Surgeon General Koop who has personally commended Dr. Sroka for his “pioneering efforts to educate the nation’s school-age populations.” His prophetic article, “Plain Talk” was written before the tragic school shooting in Columbine.

In 1993, he received the Outstanding School Health Educator Award from the American School Health Association. In 1994, he was selected the Walt Disney Outstanding Health Teacher of the Year. In 1995, he received the Distinguished Alumni Special Achievement Award from Cleveland State University, and the Grazella Shepherd Award for Excellence in Education from Case Western Reserve University. In 1996, he was inducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame. He has been chosen as an Expert in Residence for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation three times. But his most meaningful “award” was his then six-year-old daughter telling him that he was smarter than the cartoon character, Inspector Gadget.

Dr. Sroka’s spirited presentations stressing the importance of “Just Say Know” and the “ABC’s of Sex” have resulted in guest appearances on many TV programs, including the Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as coverage in many newspapers including USA TODAY. He has been an expert guest on school violence on many television and cable stations including CNN’s TalkBack Live. At the PRIDE 2003 Conference, he presented “Making a Difference, the Power of One,” a motivational message (based on the latest behavioral prevention research) to 5000 youth and adults.

His messages include: education is our most effective weapon against sex, drugs, and violence; safe and healthy kids make better students and learn more; and the Power of One, how one person can make a difference.

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