Emergent Educators Advisory Council 2nd Year Reflections: Betty Jones (Kentucky)

This story is part of a three-part series sharing reflections from the second-year members of RSC’s Emergent Educators Advisory Council. It features the perspective of Betty Jones, a graduate of the Appalachian Future Educators Rural Teacher Corps. Click here to view the reflections of Bethany Schnetzler and Logan Mackenzie.

Rural Schools Collaborative’s Emergent Educators Advisory Council (EEAC) is an opportunity for early-career teachers to form a peer network, receive professional development, and engage in a place-based grant that supports projects connecting classroom and community. Participants, who are in their first three years of credentialed teaching, are graduates of teacher preparation programs within RSC’s Rural Teacher Corps Community of Learners. Of the 2025-26 council, three members of the 12-person community were also participants in the 2024-25 council, and served in a leadership role during their second year. 

The three returning members were Bethany Schnetzler (a graduate of the Monmouth College TARTANS, Illinois Regional Hub), Betty Jones (Appalachian Future Educators at Morehead State University, Appalachia Regional Hub), and Logan Mackenzie (Eastern Oregon University’s Oregon Rural Teacher Corps, Oregon Regional Hub). Following the completion of their second year, in which they helped plan and facilitate cohort meetings, support RSC’s Grants in Place program, and more, Bethany, Betty, and Logan offered reflections from their two years on the council.

In this story, Betty shares her perspective:

Directly after graduating from Morehead State University, where Betty was a member of the Appalachian Future Educators Rural Teacher Corps program, Betty joined RSC’s Emergent Educators Advisory Council with the hope to learn more about both Place-Based Education and grants. Teaching middle school social studies in rural eastern Kentucky, the council also provided Betty with an opportunity to maintain the camaraderie with fellow educators that is a staple of the Appalachian Future Educators program. 

Betty shares that her first year on the council was about building a foundation of knowledge that augmented what she learned at Morehead State. “In year one, I was able to learn what place-based learning was and the principles that are the foundation of it. I was also able to learn about tips for grant writing and actually got to write a grant for a place-based project. I feel like teachers don’t normally apply for grants because they haven’t been taught about the kinds of grants there are or how to write and apply for them. Because I have learned about this, it gives me an advantage over other new teachers who haven’t been through this cohort.” 

Like Logan and Bethany, Betty decided to deepen her engagement and return for a second year leadership role on the council; additionally, she supported the Appalachian Future Educators Rural Teacher Corps collaboration with RSC. She reflects that “in year two, we took it a step further. I was able to read and give feedback to other people’s grants. It was eye-opening to see what grant writers’ strengths and areas of growth were within their proposals. I feel like reviewing other people’s grants gave me ideas for what I could write grants about and how to improve my grant writing. I was also able to guide the new cohort in steps to writing and carrying out their grant ideas.”

Betty reflects that she relied upon her year-one grant writing experience to help mentor those going through the process for the first time. “It was wonderful being able to support this year’s cohorts because we already had completed what they were currently working on. I was able to hear during our meetings about their projects and give them feedback about them. I was also able to answer any questions that they had, and I was able to show them my application from the year before so they could know what to include in their grant and how to format it. Furthermore, I feel like I was able to learn from them about different types of projects and ideas as well.”

Betty also notes that the experience transformed her perspective of Place-Based Education, and teaching in general. “Place-Based Education changed my outlook on teaching because through my project I wrote the grant for, I was able to see how it made learning truly meaningful to students. Students were getting really creative with their projects in ways that I couldn’t believe… I also learned that Place-Based Education projects weren’t just about building gardens or things that you normally see projects about. They can be anything as long as they tie in the key principles.”

For Betty, implementing her project was delayed a year due to a change in districts, so she completed her history-focused project during the spring of 2026, alongside her fellow council members. She describes that for her project, “students were able to learn about local history through a field trip to a local museum and courthouse. Then, students researched at school and created their own model historical markers based on a local person, place, or event in history. Finally, students presented their projects to other students, families, and community members. The students’ projects were also judged by a panel of community members with the top three projects being chosen to be put on display at the local museum.”

Betty proudly notes that “It was amazing to see how much effort all students put into this project, even when some of them normally don’t. I was also able to bring in many community members to the project, which made it even more meaningful to the students and school. Without the guidance of the EEAC council and funds from RSC, this project wouldn’t have been possible. I plan to take my experience and continue to use it to give my students those opportunities. I would recommend this council to anyone who is new to teaching and would like to get professional development and support that you can’t find anywhere else.”

Rural Schools Collaborative is deeply thankful for the participation of our Regional Hub Partners in supporting the Emergent Educators Advisory Council. Special thanks to Drs. Kimberlee Sharp and Nicola Mason for their leadership of the Appalachian Future Educators program and RSC’s Appalachia Regional Hub.