Next Thursday, Feb. 16, the Rural Schools Partnership and CFO will host a Winter Seminar for the 25 students currently involved in the Ozarks Teacher Corps. It begins at 10 a.m. and will be held in the Community Room at the Community Foundation of the Ozarks office (425 E. Trafficway, in Springfield). Lunch will be served, and the day should conclude by 2 p.m.

Please contact Julie Leeth (417-864-6199) or Carol Silvey (417-256-4725) for information on transportation.

The two-hour session will serve as a refresher and get-together for the cadre of talented teaching students who have promised to immerse themselves in the tenants of place-based education and begin their careers in rural schools.

The morning’s featured speaker will be Doane College’s Dr. Lyn Forester, who will speak on how committed rural teachers can act as  change agents, and the essential tools needed for the task.

Then Dr. Bill Wheeler will discuss how a good teacher can make a difference in the rural community; Rob Mahaffey of the Rural School and Community Trust, will give a summary via teleconference of national policy issues; and there will be a panel of three Ozarks Teacher Corps graduates (Albert Bryant, Everton; Morgan Mais, Monett; and Jessica Joiner, Joel. E. Barber) who are currently teaching in a rural school. They will discuss the highs and lows of their first semester on their own in the classroom. We will also share a new short film and instructional booklet on the importance of–and how to start–rural school foundations.

Ozarks Teacher Corps receive a $4,000 per year scholarship and targeted professional development with the pledge to return to the rural Ozarks as classroom teachers.  This program, in its second year, has become a nationally recognized model.

The following article was published by the Rural School and Community Trust’s Center for Midwest Initiatives in their weekly e-newsletter. You can learn more about the Trust and CMI (and sign up for updates) at cmi.rural.edu.

Albert Bryant is a first-year mathematics teacher in tiny Everton, Missouri, his hometown.  A graduate of Drury University, Albert was in the inaugural class of the Ozarks Teacher Corps, an effort dedicated to encouraging outstanding teacher prospects to return to their rural home communities as teachers.  The Ozarks Teacher Corps is funded by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Rural School Partnership and provides participants with a $4,000 per year scholarship, seminars on rural education issues, and a variety of networking opportunities.

Albert is one of six spring 2011 graduates who were hired for rural Ozarks’ classrooms.  One other student was dismissed from the program for non-participation, and another returned their scholarship after accepting a position in an urban school.  Albert and his colleagues have been featured in Education Week, USA Today, School and Community, and they have become ambassadors for rural schools.  The program currently includes 25 future teachers from Drury, Missouri State University, and Evangel University.  The second class is comprised both of December ’11 and May ’12 graduates. Read the rest of this entry »