Edgerton (WI) Teacher and Students Recognized for Place-Based Grant
Edgerton Schools, Egerton Public Library, and the Rural Schools Collaborative celebrate a Grants in Place award.
Edgerton 5th grade students (and Rascal) are flanked by adults (left to right) Sheila Fox, teacher, Steve Struss, donor, Kirsten Almo, youth services librarian, and Laurie Struss, donor.
Sheila Fox, Edgerton, Wisconsin K-8 Gifted and Talented Teacher, and her 5th grade students were recognized at the Edgerton Community School for receiving a $1,000 grant through RSC’s inaugural Grants in Place program. The event took place on Friday, October 16. Funds for the grant award were provided in part by the Sixteenth Section Fund and Cambridge, Wisconsin donors, Steve and Laurie Struss.
Fox’s grant award will support various events for students and the community focusing on author Sterling North, an Edgerton native. The project, in collaboration with Edgerton Public Library and its Youth Services librarian, Kirsten Almo, will engage students in a variety of community-based activities celebrating Edgerton’s native son. One of North’s most celebrated novels, Rascal, will play a prominent role as a student reading assignment and project theme. In fact, Rascal even made an appearance at the grant recognition event.
Celebrating local rural authors exemplifies the Rural Schools Collaborative’s commitment to place-based education. A key partner of RSC is Rural LIT RALLY, a national higher education consortium dedicated to preserving and cherishing the work of long-forgotten rural writers.
The Rural Schools Collaborative was organized in 2014 and launched in April 2015. RSC believes that community-based instruction, thoughtful collaboration, and targeted philanthropy strengthen the fabric of rural places. Its Grants in Place program is funding 35 innovative projects in seven states.
The organization is currently engaged in eight states working out of hubs in Springfield, Missouri; Galesburg, Illinois; Cambridge, Wisconsin; and Storm Lake, Iowa.
