Kansas State University

The Rural Education Center
Lori Goodson, Editor
Amanda Causey, Technical Editor

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We’re glad to share the Fall 2022 issue of Rural Crossroads: Connections, published by the Rural Education Center in the College of Education at Kansas State University!

As another new school year has begun, we’re excited about all the opportunities the REC and our rural school partners have before us. We hope you’ll enjoy this issue because we’ve packed it with information about the Rural Summit, grant opportunities, a new program specifically for future rural educators and much, much more.

As always let us know if you have questions about any of these opportunities or if you have ideas you’d like us to address. Be sure to reach out to Lori Goodson, lagoodson@ksu.edu, or the REC, ruraled@ksu.edu. We’re always glad to hear from you!

After a summer where K-State’s College of Education (COE) brought STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) experiences to 775 middle school and high school students during three weeks in June, we are gearing up to expand our two new programs.

STEAM CLASSIC

The COE’s REC offered the Virtual STEAM Academy for the second year, with a focus on providing STEAM opportunities for rural schools. It provided hands-on, engaging classes for students, with topics ranging from writing to literature to sports science. Kansas schools, home-school groups and individuals participated in this summer’s program. Through the COE’s Global Education Outreach office, students from Ecuador, Colombia, Nigeria and Japan classrooms also joined the camp, providing a unique learning opportunity for everyone involved. Led by Principal Calista Speake (virtualsteam@ksu.edu), the Virtual STEAM Academy offered eight different topics and reached approximately 385 middle schoolers. A STEAM teacher leads the classes through Zoom, and schools provide an educator on site to assist.

Check out Summer 2022’s report at Virtual STEAM.

PROJECT LEAPES

A second camp experience held at the same time was Project LEAPES (Learning, Exploration, and Application for Prospective Engineering Students).

Supported by a nearly $2.7 million Department of Defense grant received by the COE’s Rural Education Center, Project LEAPES involved nearly 390 middle school and high school students. The center partnered with the University of Kansas Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets, with some content offered at Kansas State University-Salina and the University of Kansas. In the first year of the three-year grant, 33 schools from 27 Kansas districts participated. Educators received professional development as well as more than $4,500 in drones and coding robots to use later in the summer to teach their students in their own classrooms. The grant focused on rural schools throughout the state of Kansas.

The LEAPES activities also will be offered through the 2022-23 school year, and plans are under way to develop a Virtual STEAM option for the school year. Schools are encouraged to participate in both camps.

Check out the LEAPES 2022 report here.

Want to be a part of Virtual STEAM and Project LEAPES? Contact the REC at ruraled@ksu.edu.

We’re still finalizing our schedule, but we can’t wait any longer to share: Save the date, April 6, 2023!

We are preparing for our fifth annual Rural Education Summit, which will be held 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, April 6. Several nationally, state and regionally recognized leaders in rural issues will be featured through our virtual format.

Our theme is Rural Schools: The Place to Learn the Place to Be. And we think you’ll find the Summit is the place to be, also! Our focus will be on place-based learning.

National-level keynote speakers will be Bridget Larsen, of Glenwood Schools in West Plains, Mo., who will focus on place-based learning, and Dr. Chea Parton, who is a champion for rural life with Literacy in Place.

Additionally, we will have leading educators throughout the state of Kansas and beyond sharing their approaches and activities in three different strands: Teaching & Learning, Leadership, and Rural Issues, as well as special presentations on international rural education. These are designed to address key issues regarding rural communities, especially education. So, whether you’re an administrator, a classroom teacher, or a community member who supports rural education, we’ll have plenty of topics that should be valuable to you!

Other topics to be addressed include special education, education law, and vacancy and retention.

Once again, the cost will be kept low to make it affordable for all districts to participate. Registration is $10 per person or $125 for districts that register to use it as professional development, including during their in-service days. We’ll also provide recordings for most of the sessions so you’ll have access to the recordings for a limited time after the Summit because we know the date won’t be ideal for everyone–and we don’t want you to miss out!

A meeting for representatives of the Rural Education Center’s Rural Professional Development Schools network will follow the conference from 1:15-2:15.

Have questions? Email me at lagoodson@ksu.edu or ruraled@ksu.edu.

Be looking for formal registration information soon, but for now we want to make sure you mark your calendars! It’s going to be another great event where rural education and communities take center stage!

We’re going to brag a little here!

The REC has been selected as the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) Hub for the State of Kansas! The national organization emphasizes regional collaboration to highlight and encourage the power of rural communities, especially education.

This selection means a great deal for the REC and has already led to various connections for resources that we can share with our rural partners.

Look for more news soon!

ED ASTRA Rural Teacher Corps, begun last year, is taking off in 2022! This student-run organization is designed to encourage pre-service teachers to consider teaching in rural districts. It focuses on current issues in rural education and highlights resources the REC can provide as students work through their field experiences at K-State.

    
At their first meeting in October, our future teachers (EDCATS) learned about rural teaching resources the REC has available for them, including drones and other technology.

Want to help raise awareness with our students regarding teaching in rural schools and what your district has to offer? Contact Kevin Colle.

The Bachelor of Science Online with the K-State College of Education offers an innovative pathway to licensure for students who aren’t on campus but are in their home community working while finishing their degree and student teaching.

Lori Levin, coordinator of the BSO, says it provides flexibility–and allows students to stay at home while pursuing their dream of teaching.

“Because our program features a flexible yearlong half day student teaching schedule, students can continue to have employment and spread their final course work over two semesters,” Levin says. “Many of our students even work in the same building where they student teach.

The program is perfect for paraeducators and others with previously earned credits from a community college and can be completed in as little as 2 years after earning an associates degree. A degree from K-State is more affordable than you might think with many generous scholarships and financial aid opportunities.

The BSO brings the opportunity to earn a degree and become a licensed teacher to your doorstep with support from expert faculty all along the way.  For more information, check us out at https://online.k-state.edu/programs/elementary-education-bachelors/

Then contact Lori Levin llevin@ksu.edu to see how you can help your paras and community members become licensed teachers for your district!

Brad Burenheide, associate professor in Kansas State University’s College of Education, found clarity in his career seven years ago while sitting in the back row of a rural Kansas high school classroom observing a K-State student teacher.

While he has spent a decade and a half teaching at the university level, that classroom observation at Rock Creek High School (RCHS) in St. George, was a turning point: He needed to be back in the secondary classroom as a career companion piece for his university teaching.

“I was sitting in the classroom watching and I just thought about what I might do differently in the lesson,” he said. “The student was doing great, but I just thought it would be enjoyable and meaningful to be able to teach in the secondary classroom again.”

That’s when he took the first step.

“I asked the cooperating teacher what electives get taught at RCHS, and he said none,” Burenheide said. “They were maxed out in what their schedules could allow. I ran the idea past Todd Goodson, Curriculum and Instruction department chair at K-State and RCHS Principal Eric Koppes, and within a month, I was on the line schedule for Current Issues.”

It seems to have been a rather smooth addition to his teaching duties. It helped that Burenheide was familiar with USD 323 Rock Creek, where his children have gone to school.

“I live in Westmoreland, and it is a lovely little town of about 800,” he said. “The other town in the district is St. George, and its population is about 700. Rock Creek is a 3A/4A school district. It sits right on the line of the two classifications; however, this might be the last time in the current cycle that the high school is 3A. It is fortunate that it is one of the few districts still growing. The reputation of the school has been instrumental in this growth.”

The district has 317 students in grades 9-12 this year. The rural area between the two towns has growing rapidly as Manhattan continues to sprawl eastward.

His own experiences as a student in a small town have shaped his opinion on the value of smaller rural schools.

Continue reading “COE Faculty Returns to Rural with Latin Class” →

We’ve saved you time and energy by creating a list of rural-related links we think you’ll find valuable.

Rural Health: Here are a couple of items from the FDA that show key information regarding rural health. For a quick glance, check out the infographic or the fact sheet.

Rural Newspapers: OK, as a former newspaper editor and reporter, I’m a little biased. But this article provides some background into a photo collection of (mostly) rural Kansas newspapers.  Rural Kansas Newspaper Photo Project

Moving from Surviving to Thriving: A panel at a California event on wellness discussed how small rural schools can go beyond just surviving. Rural Schools Thriving

NREA Blog: The National Rural Education Association has an interesting blog. To select one entry wouldn’t do it justice, so here’s the blog and you can go to the posts that you find most valuable for your district. NREA Blog

Rural News for Your Next Roadtrip: If you get a lot of drive time, then consider listening to the NREA podcasts. Check it out here: NREA Podcast

Michigan Rural School Report: This article looks at research regarding rural Michigan schools and their challenges. Michigan Challenges

Celebrate Rural Teachers: The Rural Schools Collaborative has a specific site that showcases great rural teachers. Check out I am a Rural Teacher.

REC News In Case You Missed It: The Rural Education Center was named the Rural Schools Collaborative Kansas Hub. This exciting news means the REC is nationally connected with the organization and has even more possibilities for programs and projects to support rural schools. Read the announcement here: REC Selected as Hub

If you have items you’d like shared–or a great website that others need to know about, be sure to contact me (lagoodson@ksu.edu) and we will get the word out!

We are excited to share that Kevin Colle, who has been serving as Project Coordinator for one of our federal grants, has a new title! Kevin is now Program/Project Coordinator for the REC, which means his new duties will include more involvement in a variety of REC projects. As part of that, he will be the sponsor for ED ASTRA, a new student group designed to encourage and support future rural teachers in the COE program. You can reach Kevin at klcolle@ksu.edu.

The REC staff became involved in this center because we want to amplify rural education successes and help build upon those successes. We want your ideas on how we can best serve you. So please feel free to email us at ruraled@ksu.edu.