GRANTS IN PLACE UPDATE: Moorcroft, Wyoming

Last June the National Rural Education Association and the Rural Schools Collaborative announced that Andrea Wood, an English teacher at Wyoming's Moorcroft High School had been selected to receive a $2,500 Grants in Place award to support Digital Stories of Rural Wyoming, a student-centered research, writing, and media effort that is grounded in community. We believe this is an exemplary place-based effort, and we want to once again think Dr. Allen Pratt, NREA executive directory, for his support of this good collaborative venture! We invite you to learn more about the importance of place-based learning and our exciting partnership with Teton Science Schools' Place Network Schools.

We are pleased to provide the following update from Ms. Wood:

“We are just getting rolling with our project for TravelStorys. The students have been put into their work groups, and we discussed at length what "place" is and how it means different things to different people. We also discussed our rural location and the unique, interesting history and geography that helps to define who we are as Wyomingites and rural students. Our communities have a story to tell, and this project presents an immense opportunity for our students to share with visitors who we are and the importance of "our place."

Students explored the TravelStorys app in class and began brainstorming place-based story ideas for their assigned sections of the travel routes. Next, students will meet with the curators of the West Texas Trails Museum and the Crook County Museum to research their stories. In February, they will write, edit, and record their stories. In April and May, they will record their stories and map the GPS locations of the story triggers. The stories in the app will launch in July.

Using the grant funds, we purchased audio recording equipment and a portable speaker. This equipment will be used in the final phases of the project when students record interviews with locals and historians as well as their own story scripts for the TravelStorys app. The portable speaker will allow us to listen to the TravelStorys as we travel the route via bus, making notes for adjustments to the GPS locations of the actual story triggers. Once the stories are complete, they will launch in the TravelStorys app and we will host a community event.

Thank you so much for your help and support. We are so excited to share the story of our place with the world!”

We invite you to learn more about our 2018-19 Grants in Place program! Also, we encourage you to check out our web section on the value of place-based education.