Capturing Community Stories at the Captina Creekin’ Festival

Four members of Ohio University Eastern’s Rural Teacher Corps — Jack Phillips, Jae Chance, Amelia Woollard, and Will Smith — joined Captina Conservancy for the annual Captina Creekin’ Fall Festival as part of their Rural Teacher Corps program. The Ohio University Rural Teacher Corps is a program that emphasizes Place-Based Education by connecting students with their local communities. As part of this year’s work, several RTC students volunteered their time and energy to host an oral history storytelling booth, inviting community members to share stories of life along Captina Creek, past and present.

Throughout the day, the students recorded interviews with fourteen local residents. For many of the participants, it was a chance to reflect on how the creek has shaped their lives, their families, and their connection to place. For the Rural Teacher Corps students, this was an opportunity to listen deeply, learn from local voices and strengthen their own understanding of the communities they hope to serve as future educators.

Members of the Rural Teacher Corps spend the year connecting classroom learning to community assets. A highlight of this work is developing a project with a local community partner. To prepare for this, students participate in workshops focused on community and career-connected learning, social capital, and real-world problem solving. Local field trips are hosted by their community partners to learn more about their work to explore ideas for their projects. "Today was a chance to meet people I wouldn’t normally get to talk with in my community and to hear stories that are brand new to me", said Amelia Wollard, RTC Member.

This year’s partner Captina Conservancy, whose mission to protect and celebrate the Captina Creek watershed, offers interns in the Rural Teacher Corps the opportunity to celebrate the place where they live, learn, and teach while giving back to the community. The partnership offers numerous opportunities for students to volunteer across the year.

The fourth annual Captina Creekin’ Festival offered a perfect setting for this exchange. With live bluegrass music, hayrides, local art, and hands-on educational activities, the event celebrated the people and landscapes that make Belmont County in Ohio special. The students in Ohio University’s Rural Teacher Corps were grateful to be part of the day and to contribute to Captina Conservancy’s ongoing work to preserve local history and community connections. By listening to stories along Captina Creek, these future teachers are learning what it means to be rooted in place and to carry those lessons into their own classrooms one day.

Ohio University is an anchoring institution of RSC’s Ohio Hub. Ohio University Eastern’s Rural Teacher Corps was launched with the help of an RSC Catalyst Initiative Grant and is part of the the Rural Educator Ecosystem: Community of Learners, designed to strengthen rural teacher pipelines through local partnerships and place-based strategies, the initiative brings together rural education leaders, teacher preparation programs, and philanthropic partners in a shared effort to support rural schools. The Community of Learners is supported by generous grants from ECMC Foundation and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.