Celebrating Rural Teacher Corps!

The recruitment, preparation, and retention of visionary teacher-leaders is central to Rural Schools Collaborative’s mission of building sustainable rural communities. Rural teachers play a vital role in their community, and are in short supply; without strong schools, rural communities struggle to thrive. To this aim, RSC and our partners have advocated for pathways that intentionally train and support rural educators through Rural Teacher Corps programs, supporting over a dozen rural advocate organizations covering 30 states.

The Catalyst Grant Initiative provides $25,000 planning grants to rural-serving institutions to launch new Rural Teacher Corps initiatives. Flexible dollars are hard to come by, but thoughtful planning is necessary for long term program success and sustainability. Each rural teacher corps is designed with the unique assets and needs of the local community - it should not be a one-size-fits-all approach. Planning grants serve as a "vote of confidence" that attract additional matching funding and local buy-in.

Since the launch of the Catalyst Grant Initiative, there has been amazing progress in creating rural teacher pathways across the country.

• There has been a 19% enrollment increase at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville School of Education after one year

• $50,000+ in matching funds were raised in year one by Eastern Oregon University, tripling the initial investment;

• The planning grant to the University of Mary allowed them to access $575,000 in state grants for rural teacher programs;

Overall, 119 Students are currently involved in a Catalyst Grant Rural Teacher Corps program, with 179 students engaged through these planning grants alone - that's nearly 200 new rural teachers in just two years!

We are grateful for our partners that make this possible, and ask you to join us in saying thanks and celebrating the success of Rural Teacher Corps programs and planning grants such as those provided through the Catalyst Grant Initiative. Together, we are creating vibrant and sustainable rural communities.