Northern California
Our partners at Chico State and North State Together are supporting innovative programs connecting new teachers to rural communities.
Our North California hub is a vehicle for organizing and sharing the transformational work being done in the region by a partnership between Chico State and North State Together. Through the hub, the Rural Schools Collaborative works with these partners to create, fund, and share innovative work and activity.
Ann Schulte, RSC advocate, recognizes the importance of these kinds of collaborations. "It's vital that California State University Chico engage with regional partners in order to support the recruitment and retention of rural teachers. The partnership with

North State Together is essential to not only "growing our own" teachers, but it also lends support to an increase in educational attainment and college going culture overall."
The Chico State-North State Together partnership includes two signature and exemplary programs that align perfectly with the Rural Schools Collaborative mission to build rural sustainable communities through a keen focus on place, teachers, and philanthropy.
Chico State's CLASS Program is teacher residency that differs from traditional student teaching in significant ways. CLASS Residents begin working with their mentor teachers prior to the opening of the school year and work full-time, four days per week at the school site for the entire academic year.

Residents assume responsibility for co-planning and co-teaching with their mentors from day one, and participate with their mentors in a variety of classroom-, school- and district-related activities. They are, in effect, additional faculty members in the classrooms and at the schools where they are assigned. CLASS is supported by a federal grant, and it replaces the former RiSE program.
North State Together was established in 2016 as a regional collective partnership. The effort was launched with support from The McConnell Foundation. As a result of the progress that has been made in the region, North State Together (NST) was awarded an 8 year multi-million dollar grant renewal by The McConnell Foundation. The grant allows NST to continue to develop our regional “Cradle to Career” partnerships, where leaders from education, business, philanthropic, nonprofit, civic, and faith communities join together to improve educational success for every child through a data-driven, collective impact approach.

North State Together is one of the largest geographical collectives in the United States, covering 10 counties and over 20,000 square miles. North State Together will continue to provide direct resources and data and research support to the ten county networks, including: Reach Higher Shasta, Expect More Tehama, Advancing Modoc Youth, Trinity Together Cradle to Career Partnership, and Cradle to Careers for Siskiyou. North State Together will support these partnerships with the goal to increase educational outcomes at all levels with ultimate impacts on the overall health and economic well-being of our communities.
The shared work in northern California is augmented by RSC's Grants in Place program, which supports rural teachers in California as they implement innovative, place-based efforts within their schools.
Dr. Kevin O'Rorke, Assistant Superintendent and Vice President of Student Services, Shasta -Tehama-Trinity Joint Community College District, and Dr. Ann Schulte. Graduate Coordinator, School of Education, Faculty Fellow for Rural Partnerships, California State University, Chico (pictured above), serve as the primary contacts for our North California Hub.
Building a Legacy

Grants in Place Project Unites Community in California
Pictured: Jan Mathews
Jan Mathews, a science teacher at Sycamore Middle School in Gridley, CA, noticed that students didn’t have a comfortable place to eat outside. She launched a place-based project with students using grant funds to make a lasting change.
After hearing about RSC's Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellows program, Mathew's decided to apply. Her interest and determination wound up bringing not only the students together to take initiative on the project, but also the community. The Grants in Place program is funded through the generous support from Celia and Mark Godsil in honor of Celia's career as a public school teacher and their belief in the importance of classroom teachers to rural communities. The Fellows program is limited to teachers who teach in public schools that are located in the geographic regions of RSC Regional Hubs.
More news and stories from our Northern California Regional Hub:

GRAD Partnership Rural School Spotlight: Burney Falls, CA
This feature is supported by RSC’s Northern California Regional Hub partners at North State Together

GREAT Teachers Pipeline Application Now Open
Three-Year, $13.4 Million Grant for School of Education Will Help Ease Future Teachers’ Financial Burdens

20 Rural Schools Launch Student Success Systems
Updates from the GRAD Partnership for Student Success

Welcoming Our Incoming Board Members
Rural Schools Collaborative is thrilled to welcome three new board members to the RSC team! Let us introduce you to Susan Schroth, Mike Knutson, and Nancy Van Milligen.
Ann Schulte, & Kevin O'Rorke, N. California Hub Contacts, Chico & Redding, CA

California State University, Chico

North State Together

Emma Shaffer, Loyalton, CA

Cecilia Romero, Live Oak, California

Kelly Huddleson, Bangor, CA

Michele Zollers, Oak Run, CA

Sharon Huggins: I Am a Rural Teacher Regional Advocate, Middletown, CA

Dillon Johnson

Carlos Corona

Kendall Smith, Willows, CA

Lee Shilts, Red Bluff, CA

Jera M. Verboom

Jan Mathews
