Teachers Are Advocates: Arizona Rural Schools Association Leads Winter Advocacy Workshop

The Arizona Rural Schools Association, which leads RSC’s Arizona Regional Hub, hosts an annual workshop for teachers and school leaders dedicated to building their skills and confidence in policy advocacy. The ARSA Winter Advocacy Workshop brings together education professionals from across Arizona in a unique professional development event, empowering rural educators and growing their networks of support and resilience. On a sunny day in late January, Rural Schools Collaborative joined the one-day event in Phoenix, AZ., generously hosted by the Helios Foundation.

Advocacy is fundamental to the mission of the Arizona Rural Schools Association (ARSA), a member-driven collective of nearly 200 rural and small Arizona districts that connects, informs, and advocates for the rural Arizona schools often cast in shadow by the greater Phoenix metroplex. “We want to build up that grassroots coalition that gets involved and engaged with their local legislators and ensures that the things that they are speaking for or against really do have an impact. That's going to move the needle for their kids” shared Dr. Melissa Sadorf, Executive Director of ARSA, former superintendent at rural Stanfield Elementary School District, and RSC Arizona Hub lead.

The Winter Advocacy Workshop is the evolution of the Borderlands Teacher Caucus, an initiative that RSC supported in 2021 aimed to amplify teachers’ platform to engage in policy work. The result of this was the Policy Playbook, a project spread across five RSC Regional Hubs which convened teachers for listening sessions and offered specific policy recommendations. The Policy Playbook has become a vital tool used by Rural Schools Collaborative to share the often-overlooked perspectives of rural teachers in policy conversations.

Spurred by an active and engaged group of teachers, Melissa and ARSA have continued convening teachers and school leaders around the topic of policy advocacy, and the event has grown in the subsequent years since the Borderlands Teacher Caucus. Melissa reflects that “we've taken the pieces that worked for our state and for the communities that we're pulling teachers from, and have just refined it every year since. We have teachers that were on the caucus previously that want to come back, which says a lot about the value that they place in it.”

The 2025 Winter Workshop convened a few dozen teachers and school leaders, a combination of first-time attendees and a few who were part of the original Borderlands Teacher Caucus. At the helm were Melissa and ARSA President Sean Rickert, who both facilitated a day filled with active conversations, dialogue around shared challenges and opportunities, and engagement around tools designed to enable educators to become confident engaging in various forms of advocacy.

For Melissa, structuring the workshop around the teachers’ perspectives is key. “I think what is unique [about ARSA’s advocacy strategy] is the way that we approach it, and empowering our educators in rural communities to really trust their voice to elevate their voice, and then supporting them as they do it. I think that that's something that really has resonated well with our state and I'm really proud of the work that ARSA has done in that advocacy space.”

Many of the teachers in attendance were Arizona Rural Teachers of Distinction, a yearly award given to Arizona teachers nominated for being exemplary educators. “We have 10 that are identified every year, and we offer them the opportunity to sit on that caucus and get involved in advocacy efforts. We'll give them the training, the support, the resources, and then the networking and opportunities so that their voice is heard. And I think it's successful because people buy into it, they engage with it, they appreciate it. And we're glad that we're able to do it” describes Melissa.

For some teachers, engaging in policy conversations felt like a step beyond their familiar work, but an important step nevertheless. One such teacher was Christina Mussleman, who has 20 years of experience teaching first grade and reading intervention in Lake Havasu, AZ. In 2023 Christina was named as an Arizona Teacher of Distinction, and felt that the workshops offer a critical opportunity to grow: “I honestly think it's empowering as a teacher. I think it gives us an outlet and a way to learn information that maybe we're not going to learn within our own walls of our district. And I think it just is empowering that they care about what we're saying.”

Another first grade teacher, Laura Layden of Holbrook, AZ, noted that engaging in rigorous conversations around policy can be a bit of a switch from years spent chatting with young learners, but got a nice push from school leadership to attend. “Our superintendent really wants his teachers to be aware and advocate for themselves, as well as our district. And now I know why!” Laura, a 2024 Teacher of Distinction, also spoke to why many teachers don’t consider themselves policy experts: “I often times do feel intimidated when I talk with administrators or superintendents. . . we get in our own little bubble [in the classroom]. But it has been a really, really eye opening experience, and a wonderful honor to be a part of it. I think as a teacher you always have to learn, and I’m learning.”

Sara Darnell, also of Lake Havasu and another 2024 Teacher of Distinction, saw similar opportunities in engaging in advocacy as an educator: “As a teacher, advocacy is what we do all the time. We're always advocating for students and looking for what we can do to make it better for them, but also make it better for our schools, make it better for our teachers. And so I think that's just a natural progression. As a teacher, you do it on a daily basis.” Melissa and ARSA see the same natural overlap between teaching and advocating, and during one session worked with all attendees to identify their personal advocacy style. Melissa offers that “I think that teachers can lead from wherever they are, whether it's the classroom or the instructional coaching office. Teachers are leaders.”

Melissa continues, noting the importance of developing a cohort of diverse rural perspectives: “Our support of the Borderlands Rural Teacher Caucus is our effort to ensure that teachers that are interested in getting involved in advocacy have an opportunity and a place to start that journey. We are giving them the tools to feel comfortable with advocacy work, and getting them connected with other like-minded individuals from across the state. All rural, but bringing different perspectives, because their communities are so diverse.” This was confirmed during the day’s introductions, with teachers traveling in from each corner of the state, representing schools with wildly variable demographics and differing sizes.

If there was a through line between the myriad reflections that teachers shared, it would be the unity they created through identifying commonalities and sharing diverse experiences. Teaching can often feel like a bubble, where you work with the same students, teachers, administrators, and community members day after day, year after year. The benefits of this are tangible: entrenched institutional knowledge, long-standing relationships, and social safety. But there can be a downside, too, with comfortability leading to complacency, stagnation, and the feeling that your impact to change educational systems does not extend beyond your classroom’s four walls.

Building a professional network of like-minded professionals, bonded by a love for teaching and a desire to advocate for students and rural schools, offers the promise of making a deeper imprint through both individual and collective action. Those assembled for the workshop all took a meaningful step towards uplifting their schools. For each teacher, and community, this will look different. Platforms like the Winter Advocacy Workshop, and authentic organizations like ARSA, are essential for empowering teachers to make that imprint their own when it comes to policy and driving meaningful change for the communities they love.

RSC extends gratitude to Melissa Sadorf, Executive Director of ARSA, for her continued support and partnership with RSC. Additionally, special thank you to Ty White, GRAD Partnership Arizona Hub Lead, for guiding the RSC team on a trip through Arizona, and for his tireless advocacy on behalf of Arizona students, schools, and communities.