Editors Note:  This is the first of two features on Rural Schools Partnership educators who applied for and received funding from the Fund for Teachers Fellows Program in conjunction with The Rural School and Community Trust.  Only eleven awards were made to rural teachers nationally, and we are proud that two were in the Missouri Ozarks.  This year’s Fellows are Bolivar Primary teachers Kayla King, Joelle Smith, and Janet Tweedy; and Ste. Genevieve Valle Catholic Grade School’s Donna Herzog, who is featured below.

What do Flat Stanley and place-based education have in common?  Donna Herzog knows; and she ventured to the American Southwest to prove her point.

Herzog, a first grade teacher at Ste. Genevieve Valle Catholic School, recognizes the importance of place.  Teaching in an historic Mississippi river town only heightens this awareness and participating in an innovative place-based education project—as Donna did in 2009-10—served to reinforce her commitment.  It was through the Valle School community history project, funded by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Coover Grants program, that Herzog became acquainted with the Rural Schools Partnership and its collaborative work with The Rural School and Community Trust.  She then learned of The Trust’s partnership with the Fund for Teachers and applied for a 2011 fellowship.

“Our children have always been interested in Flat Stanley and his trips to various locations,” she shared.  “When students see a Flat Stanley picture somewhere they have never been, it becomes an opportunity to teach geography and culture.  I thought it would be neat to take a trip to the Colorado River region, haul Flat Stanley along, then come back and compare river life in the American Southwest with our students’ own experiences on the Mississippi.”

So, Herzog prepared an itinerary, developed an interdisciplinary curriculum, and sent in her application.  Much to her surprise and delight, she received one of eleven awards granted to rural teachers from across the country.  “I am so grateful to The Rural School and Community Trust and the Fund for Teachers program.  This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it will really bring learning to life for my students,” she said.

Herzog’s first-graders will not be the only students benefitting from her efforts.  She plans on developing a multi-age curriculum, which will include high school students creating podcasts about river life in Missouri.

Ste. Genevieve Valle and the Ste. Genevieve Valle Foundation are both members of the Rural Schools Partnership, and the cooperation between the school and the supporting foundation has provided enhanced access to funding and programs.  For more information on the Rural Schools Partnership, The Rural School and Community Trust, or the Fund for Teachers, please contact Julie Leeth at 417-864-6199 or jleeth@cfozarks.org.