Dermott (AR) Middle School's Julia Boatner, a 6th grade literacy and social studies teacher, received a $450 Grants in Place award for her Parent Engagement Workshop. Funding was provided by the Rural Schools Collaborative with additional support provided by the Rural Community Alliance.
Ms. Boatner's students will present a workshop for parents and community members on how to get involved in and support the school district.
We look forward to sharing her students' work later in the year.
The 2016-17 Rural Schools Collaborative Grants in Place program was truly a collaborative venture. The combined efforts fund 33 projects serving 54 communities, supporting the good work of more than 60 teachers from seven states. Twenty-two funders and individual donors came together to invest more than $105,000 in rural place-based education initiatives and projects. The groundbreaking work of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Rural Schools Partnership certainly led the way, but other organizations are beginning to see the real value of supporting student learning that is imbedded in the community and serves a public purpose.
Please check out this year's projects. They were selected from more than 70 applications from 12 different states. We hope you will join us in our ongoing endeavor to enlist additional funders and create even more place-based opportunities for teachers and their respective communities.
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