Megan Hawkins, Shoals, Indiana: Young Educators' Advisory Council

Megan Hawkins, High School Animal Science & Engineering Teacher, and Early College Director

I am from and currently teach in Shoals, IN. I am an alum of Shoals High School. I love my rural community and school. We may not have many attractions for outsiders to do in our town like others do, but our small town involvements and school events are what make our community thrive.

Our high school has only about 200 students and we still compete with some of the surrounding larger schools in academics and CTE activities. We have three student run businesses, a school farm, STEM equipment with fabrication labs, counseling center, teachers who stay past 3pm, and more awesome attributes to our school.

Our community is known for the annual Catfish Festival. The White River does run through our town as well.

I just led a session at an SREB conference to other rural schools. One thing we think of living in a rural community is that we do not have many opportunities. That is not necessarily the case. We can create unique opportunities through our community partners and within our staff at school. We are just as capable to give the same education, if not better I believe, than larger schools.

I love networking and professional development. What better way to connect with other educators from across the nation to better ourselves and education from state to state.

The Young Educators' Advisory Council is an initiative for early career rural teachers. These young educators will serve RSC as advisors to strengthen our mission in the recruitment, preparation, and retention of rural teachers. YEA council members will serve for two years engaging in online conversations.