I Am a Rural Teacher Podcast
The “I Am a Rural Teacher” Podcast is a project of the Rural Schools Collaborative. The podcast is being produced as part of the larger I Am a Rural Teacher national advocacy campaign is in partnership with the National Rural Education Association and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The project is supported by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In this podcast, we’re talking with teachers in real time about how they’re handling the impacts of Covid-19, internet access, and the daily ways, big and small, that rural schools and communities come together to take care of each other.
If you’d like to join us, get started by listening to the podcasts below, then subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, on Spotify, Google Play, Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. New episodes will be uploaded every Monday until mid-December.
Jolene Smith - Teaching Culture on the Navajo Nation
Melissa Wyman - Place-Based Education in Vermont
Michael Melton - The Many Roles of a Rural Teacher
Patti and Rod Lloyd - Finding Home on the Alaskan North Slope
Sharon Laredo Christie - The Honor of Teaching on the Border
Mark Roy - Dancing with History
Preparing Teachers for Rural Wyoming: Voices from the Field
January 28, 2026
In this blog, hear from 3 WY Rural Teacher Corps (RTC) members who completed their student teaching in the fall of 2025 and graduated in December 2025 about their experiences in the Corps and with rural teaching.
Power of Partnerships, Northern Rockies, Place-Based Education, Rural Teacher Corps
Out of the Classroom, Into Cahaba
November 25, 2025
Rural Teachers in Alabama practice Place-Based Education through the University of West Alabama and Teton Science Schools
Power of Partnerships, Black Belt, Northern Rockies, Place-Based Education
Celebrating Rural Teacher-Leaders: National Signature Project Award 2024-25 Winners
August 19, 2025
In partnership with the National Rural Education Association, Rural Schools Collaborative is proud to celebrate this year’s National Signature Project Awardees' accomplishments.