Global Fellowship Bridge to the World for Missouri Teacher

Pictured is fourth grade teacher Jennie Young of Mendon, Missouri.Mendon, Missouri.  Population 208. To paraphrase East Nashville-based folk singer, Todd Snider, “There’s a post office, fire station, ag business, a school; and that’s the whole darn town.” But this would be the assessment of the casual observer, and a closer inspection will reveal a vigorous small community, a strong rural school district, and a highly respected and adventurous fourth grade teacher.

Jennie Young has taught school in Mendon at Northwestern R-1 for 13 years.  Almost every day she and her students walk by or exercise in a gymnasium where she had played high school basketball and watched her own children do the same.  Young’s personal continuity can be found throughout the school. The superintendent has been with the district for 26 years; the kindergarten teacher has taught for 24. Young introduces visitors to the English teacher, third grade teacher, and school secretary, who have all been with the district for at least two decades.  

“Many of the teachers are locals,” she adds.  “They are really connected to the kids and the community.”

This degree of tenure is rare in small rural schools (Northwestern R-1 has 209 students, K-12), and the resulting stability creates a school climate rich in trust, support, and rootedness.   Administrative and faculty turnover is one of thornier challenges facing many small rural school districts.  In Mendon, however, a surprisingly familial environment is sensed quickly.

Young embraces the school’s strong sense of place, but she is not one to simply stay put.   “I wouldn’t change where I live for anything,” she said, “but I do like to go;” and it is her commitment to students and her personal desire to keep learning that motivated Young to explore opportunities for summer travel grants.  “I received a tip from a colleague to check out The Rural School and Community Trust, and I decided to apply for a Global Teaching Fellowship,” she said.

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Placeworks Supports Rural Arts Education in the Ozarks

This article appeared in the April 2012 Rural Policy Matters.

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Students from Fordland, Missouri work on an art installation after being visited by Placeworks Arts Initiative traveling artist Kate Baird on January 27, 2012. Budding artisans in rural schools in the Ozarks are benefitting from an initiative that brings hands-on, cross-curricular art lessons that engage them and encourage them to integrate their artwork into their communities. Founded in 2010 as an arts education initiative of the Rural Schools Partnership, Placeworks funds an artist-in-residence to bring interdisciplinary art projects to rural school districts in Missouri.

Kate Baird, a former teaching artist at the Guggenheim Museum, the Kentler International Drawing Space, and the Rubin Museum of Art in New York, visits the classrooms free of charge. She brings lesson plans, ideas, and materials for original projects that schools otherwise would not have.

As school districts face funding cuts, the arts are typically the first to be sacrificed, despite being designated a ‘core academic subject’ under the 2002 version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (No Child Left Behind) and being a part of curriculum requirements in most states.

But Placeworks is making a difference in rural Missouri. Artist Baird estimates that more than 800 students have participated in Placeworks projects since its inception. This number includes students in Fordland, who created an art installation for the school’s entry hallway using only pool noodles, and Conway students who designed imaginary road signs for historic Route 66, which runs through the middle of their town.

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Sharing, Grants and Empowerment Mark 2012 Thomasville Rendezvous

The Rural Schools Partnership and 100 of its closest friends spent Thursday, April 26 in Thomasville, Mo., where the tenants of place-based education were shared among educators, students and those with a passion for improving rural communities.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Francisco Guajardo, Ph.D., Rural School and Community Trust Vice Chair and
Associate Professor in the Dept. of Educational Leadership University of Texas-Pan American in Edinburg, Texas. He spoke about the importance of stories, not only in terms of the culture of our communities, but the value of each individual’s personal story. He was also an active participant in each of three breakout sessions, where students from Purdy, St. James and Dora (click here to see videos they presented during their session, plus additional projects) shared RSP-sponsored projects with the Rendezvous attendees.

Read more: Sharing, Grants and Empowerment Mark 2012 Thomasville Rendezvous