Grant to Cabool, MO Teacher Supports Student Community Newsletter
Student Projects Connect School to Community
ReBena Sigman, left, accepts Grants in Place poster from Carol Silvey,
INFORMATION RELEASE
RURAL SCHOOLS COLLABORATIVE/ www.ruralschoolscollaborative.org
CONTACT: Gary Funk, director, 417-848-9083; gfunk@ruralschoolscollaborative.org
December 2, 2015
Cabool Middle School Teacher Receives Grant from the Rural Schools Collaborative in conjunction with Community Foundation of the Ozarks
The Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) recognized a Cabool (MO) Middle School teacher for receiving a grant through RSC’s inaugural Grants in Place program. Funds for the grant award were provided in part by the Missouri-based Community Foundation of the Ozarks and individual donors.
Cabool Middle School 7th grade students and their communications arts teacher, ReBena Sigman, were awarded $864 to establish and publish a quarterly newsletter for the school community of Cabool. Sigman explained the purpose of the project:
“Our community members do not often know about the wonderful things happening in our classrooms. I want to address this issue by having my seventh graders cooperatively write, print, and distribute a newsletter to send home each quarter to parents of students in our school and our current school board members.”
Sigman noted that the students would create the newsletters on Chrome books. The grant dollars enabled the Middle School to purchase four Chrome books and a charging station.
Carol Silvey, Community Foundation of the Ozarks Senior Associate for Advancement, made the grant presentation award to Ms. Sigman. Silvey is also a board member of the Rural Schools Collaborative.
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. RSC, in part, is modeled on the Community Foundation of the Ozarks' nationally recognized Rural Schools Partnership.
The Rural Schools Collaborative is currently engaged in eight states with a small administrative office in Cambridge, Wisconsin.