GoTeach South Dakota Seeks Qualified Teachers for Rural Communities

Rural Communities across the country are struggling with decreasing rates of qualified young teachers who want to fill teaching positions in their communities. GoTeach South Dakota is a federally funded Teacher Quality Partnership grant, working to address that need in rural South Dakota. It seeks to train and retain rural teachers coming out of the University of South Dakota (USD) through an education program specifically designed to prepare education majors to teach in its rural communities.

As part of the GoTeach program, education majors at USD participate in a program designed to develop and prepare them to teach in rural South Dakota. Participating students are enrolled in a track of USD school of education that offers all the benefits of the education program as well as unique course work and experiences that specifically address the needs of rural education. When they graduate, GoTeach teachers are placed in qualifying communities in rural South Dakota where they are able to use their specialized courses, experiences and mentoring to enhance the lives of the K-12 children in that community. GoTeach believes that through recruiting teachers specifically trained for rural districts, children will be taught by motivated and qualified teachers no matter where they live.

Rural schools qualify for the GoTeach based on poverty levels and teacher need. There are currently 19 qualifying high-need school districts participating in the program and 49 schools within those districts.

Read more: GoTeach South Dakota Seeks Qualified Teachers for Rural Communities

New Class of Ozarks Teacher Corps Students Chosen

Congratulations to the 2012 class of the Ozarks Teacher Corps. The nine students representing four Ozarks universities were formally introduced on April 26 in Thomasville, Mo., during the annual Rural Schools Rendezvous. Each recipient is from a rural home town and–-in exchange for $4,000 for each of their final two years in school, plus a wealth of professional development opportunities–-will upon graduating agree to teach in a rural district for at least three years.

The goal of the Ozarks Teacher Corps is to develop talented teaching candidates who will explore rural education issues, serve as teacher interns in small schools, and commit to teaching in their respective home communities for at least three years.  The overarching purpose of the Ozarks Teacher Corps is to encourage extremely capable and passionate young people to become educators and return to their rural hometowns as teacher-leaders.

Read more about the Ozarks Teacher Corps here. 

This program is made possible by the Chesley and Flora Lea Wallis Trust, a $1.7 million Community Foundation of the Ozarks charitable fund, and also supported by the Henry J. and Lucille J. Straus Scholarship Fund.

The 2012 Ozarks Teacher Corps recipients are:

Jessica Bruce, Missouri State University, from Bolivar

Lillard (Del) Davis, Missouri State University-West Plains, from Mountain Grove

Amy Ginnings, Missouri State University, from Pleasant Hope

Deidre Quackenbush, Missouri State University, from Ava

Patricia Rodriguez, Missouri State University-West Plains, from West Plains

ReBena Sigman, Missouri State University-West Plains, from Cabool

Morgan Spencer, Evangel University, from Stark City

Ashley Tucker, Drury University, from Fair Grove

Myra Yost, Missouri State University-West Plains, from West Plains

Congratulations to all!

Illinois Teacher's Travels Add Global Perspective

Spanish teacher Meridith Reddick pictured with Oakland High School Principal Steve Brockman.Spanish teacher Meridith Reddick begins her day at Kansas, Illinois High School, where she teaches three classes; Spanish I, Spanish II, and a combined Spanish III and IV.  She then jumps in her car, drives 11 miles to Oakland High School, has a short break, and repeats the three-class routine.  For six years, Meridith completed her day by coaching the Oakland Junior High and High School Scholastic Bowl Team.

This kind of daily grind might drive some to early retirement, but Meridith, a graduate of Eastern Illinois University, remains an enthusiastic teacher and lifelong learner.  In fact, a Master’s degree thesis project on the impact of school busing led her to what she hopes will be a life-changing experience.

“When I was doing my research at Eastern, I came across The Rural School and Community Trust’s website and its studies on the impact of student busing.  I registered for Rural Policy Matters, and through that I learned about the Rural Trust Global Teacher Fellowship Program,” Reddick recalled.

Read more: Illinois Teacher's Travels Add Global Perspective