The Seymour Center for Rural Education’s Teacher Corps Retreat

One mile south of Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL, three Rural Teacher Corps programs came together on a beautiful spring Saturday morning to participate in the first-ever Rural Teacher Corps Retreat. Arriving in the parking lot and walking towards the buildings of the Horn Field Campus of Western Illinois University (WIU), chatter quickly began to fill the lodge as students grabbed a hot cup of coffee and a bite to eat. Students and professors from RSC’s Illinois Regional Hubs at Western Illinois University (WIU), Monmouth College and 2023-2024 Catalyst Grant recipient Knox College gathered here to be immersed in activities and challenges to create a community of future rural educators in west-central Illinois.

Dr. Jim La Prad, Director of the School of Education at Western Illinois University (WIU) and hub lead, planned the retreat for Rural Teacher Corps students from WIU Great River Teacher Corps, Monmouth College TARTANS, and Knox College Rural Teacher Corps. “We had an idea of creating an opportunity to bring in the other Rural Teacher Corps at both Monmouth College and Knox College because of one thing that happened at the National Forum for Advancing Rural Education.” Students who attended the National Forum for Advancing Rural Education (NFARE) in October of 2024 with Dr. La Prad recognized that there were other students in Rural Teacher Corps, but they had never met or talked to them. “We know that building up the rural network of teachers is so important,” Dr. La Prad noted, “especially for the students in this specific region. The likelihood of these students teaching with another student in the region is very possible.”

After enjoying refreshments in the lodge during check-in, the group moved to the outdoor seating area just outside of the lodge. This space overlooked a hiking trail and the rustic brick cabins that each group would be staying in overnight. Mindy Pheiffer, Director of Horn Field Campus, began the day with a quick history on the campus. Built in the 1930s, A Coca-Cola bottler named Frank Horn owned the land and eventually sold it to WIU in 1965. Today, WIU encourages the use of the campus; Mindy shared that when the students have a classroom of their own, they are welcome to bring their students to learn in a natural setting.

The sun was shining and a gentle cool breeze blew through the group as the day kicked off with a group activity. Dr. Tammy La Prad, Illinois Hub Lead and RSC Board Member, instructed students to draw or write a unique signifier on their wooden block– many students copied down their initials, while others drew a favorite animal. In pairs, students held the wooden block with two fingers, one from each partner, and shared with their partner why they attended the retreat. One student shared that this activity ensured there was a shared responsibility to hold the block, while also listening to the other person sharing about themselves.

After an ice-breaker activity, Rural Schools Collaborative’s program manager Henry Whitehead led the group on a Place-Based nature hike throughout the campus. Students and professors walked through the forest identifying trout lily leaves for a little snack, and also came together as teams to compete in building a statue with only things found around them. Collaboration from group to group and laughter filled the spring air. To wrap up the hike, each future educator found a space along the trail to call their own for 5 minutes of stillness, listening to the birdsong and wind in the trees around them.

As members of the teacher corps sat outside enjoying lunch, a handful of students reflected on their experiences so far. Justin Shelts, a senior at WIU noted that the experience has influenced him to think of ways of utilizing the outdoors as a classroom with his future class: “Being in a rural area, a lot of times, you're going to have a lot of nature around you. . . and just being able to connect it a lot more and make it personal for every student.” Junior Monmouth College TARTANS member Natalya Main said that her favorite part of the experience so far has been connecting with other future teachers: “The stories that everyone has shared and everyone's different viewpoints on certain aspects of today will definitely help me grow as a rural educator, but also just in general as a teacher, because everyone has their own stories and connections to everything, which is really cool.”

Knox College Assistant Professor of Education Studies and Director of Teacher Education, Mary Lyons, shared that bringing her students together for this Rural Teacher Corps experience really put a big bow on their most recent class. “We're doing community building, and this is social and interpersonal skill building. The students are being stretched to talk with people they've never met before. In so many ways, this is an application of the things we were just studying. . . It's motivating me to think about what else we could be doing to get students in these immersive contacts so they can really process and internalize ideas specific to rurality and what it means to be with nature.” Addison Lamanna, junior from Knox College, reflected that making new connections to others interested in rural education was a highlight of the event, noting that she values “building a network and meeting other teachers because sometimes it's hard, even when we're at smaller schools, to find other people that are like-minded.”

After a quick recharge break, students and professors gathered in a group to begin walking to the next activity, the challenge and rope courses. A group of WIU student ropes leaders greeted the group with enthusiasm. One student leader, Maddison Boyer, graduated from WIU last year and was also a part of the Great River Teacher Corps. Natalie is now a 3rd-grade teacher at Abingdon-Avon Elementary school and was excited to lead the future teachers through the ropes and challenge courses. “Our rural schools are the essential ingredient in our communities, and those teachers are the essential human resource in those communities. So the stronger we can make their livelihood, the better our rural communities are going to be, and then the greater the sustainability and teacher retention will be as well,” shared Dr. La Prad.

As the students and professors began climbing and scaling the ropes course, their peers and future colleagues cheered, clapped, and shouted words of encouragement from below. A sophomore student from WIU, Sarah Nerud, felt the experience of the retreat allowed her to connect with others and understand why it’s so important to create a connection with students and their community. For Jim, this was representative of what they were trying to achieve with this event: “I think rural schools in a community setting feel closer to community, since it's a small town, typically smaller area, and people know each other, so it really drives home the concept that community is so important. And I feel like the school is the place to start that. When the kids go out into the world, they can continue that.”

This first-time retreat centered upon the idea of building a connection between three Rural Teacher Corps in west-central Illinois. Future rural educators who attended the retreat had valuable experiences learning about each other, but most importantly themselves as future leaders in rural communities. Dr. Jim La Prad said, “We want our teachers to learn about Place-Based Education, to use it in the classroom, but maybe most importantly, we want them to be facilitating with their students, whether they become teachers or not. It's like they're valuing their place, and they're valuing the honor of that community, and that's the most important piece, because that's for all the community. That's why it's not just about good teaching or good pedagogy. It's about the sustainability of communities.”

Thank you Dr. Jim La Prad for including RSC in the Rural Teacher Corps Retreat hosted at Horn Field Campus. RSC would also like to thank Dr. Tammy La Prad, Professor Mary Lyons and their students who shared their perspectives with us.

Learn more about RSC's Rural Teacher Corps partners and programs, here.