Rural Futures Take Root in Latham, Ohio

Rural students often hear that in order to make something of themselves, they have to leave their communities. Jennifer Buckler and her school are running a counternarrative: you can have a bright future right at home. Jennifer teaches STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art/Agriculture and Math) classes to students kindergarten through sixth grade at Western Local School District in Latham, an unincorporated community in south-central Appalachian Ohio.

That belief came to life through the Western STEAM Career and Community Connected Learning Event, which transformed the school campus into a hub of opportunity and local pride. For one day, students explored career pathways tailored to their interests and aptitudes as identified through their GRIT assessments. 

More than 50 local businesses, post-secondary institutions, tradespeople, and community organizations filled Western’s combined elementary and high school campus, giving students direct access to people whose careers reflected the possibilities available within their own region. Each student connected with at least two professionals whose work aligned with their interests or aptitudes, helping students see a future that is possible close to home.

The event was also a celebration of Appalachian culture and rural life. Live bluegrass music performances echoed across campus while local food trucks served families and visitors. Student-run businesses from Western’s West LA Ecosystem showcased the entrepreneurial spirit that students are developing every day at school. The Ecosystem serves as an in-school career development center where students operate a coffee shop, food truck and grill, t-shirt shop, and media center, with future plans for an automotive detailing business and fitness center. These programs are intentionally student-led, giving learners hands-on experience with scheduling, budgeting, inventory management, marketing, and customer service.

At Western, Jennifer’s motto rings throughout the halls: “You don’t know what you don’t know.” Through place-based and community-connected learning, she helps students discover possibilities they may never have imagined, not just during one annual event, but throughout the school year.

Jennifer is also a Rural Schools Collaborative 2026 Grants in Place recipient. Together with her students, she created STEM to Stem: The Cut Flower Collective, a school-based flower farming and floral design business that connects STEAM education with agricultural learning and entrepreneurship. The project brings together students from the K-6 STEAM program and the 7-12 vocational agriculture program to design, grow, and manage a sustainable flower business.

The cross-grade collaboration fostered opportunities for mentorship and shared learning. Younger students explored plant science by germinating seeds in hundreds of milk jugs during the winter months, while older students guided them through greenhouse management, raised-bed gardening, and agricultural planning. Community members also became part of the project. A local business donated lumber for the raised beds, and engineers from a nearby manufacturing plant worked alongside students to assemble the structures students had helped design themselves.

Jennifer can see out her classroom window to blooming flowers and students ready to market and design bouquets for sale to the community. As it has developed, the project has become about more than flowers. After a year of entrepreneurial learning, students are now discussing how to let part of the crop go to seed so they can both sell seeds and replant for future growing seasons, creating a model of sustainability alongside business ownership.

Jennifer is also an OHIO Rural Teacher Fellow – and through her project, she worked with students and the community to create a storybook trail, where students authored and illustrated stories about members of their community. The trail celebrates the voices, history, and experiences of the community while helping students understand that their own stories and the stories of their neighbors matter. 

The OHIO Rural Teacher Fellowship is a partnership between BB2C and Ohio University, who serve as leads for Rural Schools Collaborative’s Ohio Hub. The three-year fellowship empowers educators in Appalachian Ohio to lead Community and Career Connected Learning in their schools with an emphasis on place-based projects that foster career exploration, connecting students to real people, places, and problems in their communities. 

At Western Local, that work is coming to life. Learning extends far beyond the classroom walls and into the community as students are engineering raised beds, interviewing community leaders, operating businesses, designing products, and exploring future careers rooted in the region they call home. Through every project and partnership, Jennifer Buckler is helping students understand that success does not require leaving rural Appalachia behind.

We would like to thank Jennifer Buckler for welcoming Rural Schools Collaborative into her classroom and school. We also would like to thank our Ohio Hub partners at Building Bridges to Careers and Ohio University for their support of projects like these.