I Am A Rural Teacher

Hello, and welcome to the I Am A Rural Teacher Podcast, a project of Rural Schools Collaborative and the National Rural Education Association.

Rural teachers know that their students deserve the very best, often continuing their own education so they can better serve their learners. Dr. Brandon Renfroe completed an EdD in Rural Education at the University of West Alabama, a first-of-its-kind program, before becoming a rural science teacher in Geraldine, Alabama.

Dr. Annah Rogers, RSC’s GRAD Partnership Black Belt Regional Hub Coordinator and an assistant professor at UWA, sat down with Brandon to discuss his experiences as a rural teacher and community leader.

Supporting place-based learning in rural communities is core to the missions of RSC and the NREA, as evidenced by our shared grant work, the National Signature Project Award. Kim McCully-Mobley is a high school teacher in Aurora, Missouri, who won the 2023-2024 award to support her work creating murals with her students representing the history of her hometown.

Thank you for listening to this episode of the I Am A Rural Teacher Podcast. We’d like to thank our partners at Community Foundation of the Ozarks and Missouri State University for jointly leading the Rural Schools Collaborative Missouri Ozarks Regional Hub, where Kim is based. Special thanks to Kim for telling her story about place-based education in Aurora, and to Brian for sharing his perspective, as well. I Am A Rural Teacher is a collaborative project between Rural Schools Collaborative and the National Rural Education Association.

One angle for tackling the nationwide teacher shortage is the funding and implementation of teacher corps programs, which train educators in supportive cohorts to transition into teaching. Freda Calloway is one such graduate from the Arkansas Teacher Corps, which prioritizes placements in rural areas.

Freda now teaches English and Journalism in a rural high school in McGehee, Arkansas. We’d like to thank our partners at Rural Community Alliance and Arkansas Teacher Corps for jointly leading the Rural Schools Collaborative Arkansas & Delta Regional Hub, where Freda is based. I Am A Rural Teacher is a collaborative project between the Rural Schools Collaborative and the National Rural Education Association.

Rural teachers are the heartbeats of their community, encouraging students to do their best and supporting programs in their schools. Brian Skinner is a high school special education teacher from Newton, Kansas, who was named a 2023 Kansas Teacher of the Year for his outstanding work with his students.

This story is especially near-and-dear to Rural Schools Collaborative Executive Director, Taylor McCabe-Juhnke. Taylor first met Brian when they were in the same class at Bethel College, in North Newton, Kansas, and Brian now teaches at Taylor’s hometown high school alma mater, Newton High School.

We’d like to thank our partners at Kansas State University for leading the Rural Schools Collaborative Kansas Regional Hub, where Brian is based. Special thanks to Brian for sharing his story, and congratulations again on being a Kansas Rural Teacher of the Year. The I Am A Rural Teacher Project is a collaborative project with the National Rural Education Association.

Many imagine rural communities as homogenous, non-diverse places, but in recent years especially quite the opposite is true. With rural populations diversifying in a variety of ways, it is critical now more than ever for teachers to be representatives and role models for the students they serve.

Shawntasia Butler is a third-year educator in Morehead, Kentucky, who believes that her identities as a special education teacher and as a black woman are solidly intertwined. We talked with Shawntasia about how she helps students value the ways that diverse rural communities celebrate their differences while bonding over what makes them the same.

We’d like to thank our partners at Morehead State University and the National Rural Education Association for collaborating with us on this episode. Special thanks to Shawntasia for sharing her story, being a role model for her students, and serving on the Young Educators’ Advisory Council. The I Am A Rural Teacher Project is made possible by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Education is an invaluable force for the health and strength of rural communities. Osbaldo (Ozzie) Gonzalez, a first-year, Dual Language elementary teacher in Nyssa, Oregon, knows this first-hand. Ozzie is passionate about building a sense of hope, empowerment, and determination in his students, a lifelong mindset that he worked hard to cultivate within himself. 

We’d like to thank our partners at Eastern Oregon University for connecting us with Ozzie for this episode, and our partners at the National Rural Education Association for collaborating with us. A special thank you to Ozzie for taking the time to meet with us after the school day, and for being an incredible rural teacher. The I Am a Rural Teacher project is made possible by a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Max Frommelt, a digital media teacher in Wisconsin and a member of RSC’s Young Educators’ Advisory Council, is only in his second year of teaching at Dodgeville High School, but he has hit the ground running by building an innovative, new program from scratch. In this episode, we talked with Max about his own experiences in school and how they led him to become the teacher he is today.

Content Warning: This episode contains mentions of the Holocaust.

The bonds forged among people in rural places are often driven by how community members can relate to each other, and how they share something in common. However, rural schools can also create a fantastic environment for learning about other cultures in a real, one-on-one way.

Taylor Kilgore and Linda Hooper collaboratively run the renowned Paper Clips Project at Whitwell High School in rural Tennessee, which focuses on remembering and learning from the tragedy of the Holocaust. These two outstanding educators share how this project has not only been a classroom lesson for their students, but a medium for deeper understanding and connection between community members.

Rural schools around the world have more in common than one might expect, regardless of their latitude and longitude. In particular, teacher shortages continue to heavily impact rural communities, and several organizations have made the decision to act and find and retain exemplary talent for rural schools.

In this episode, we spoke with Lola Rubio Alberca about her experiences in a rural-focused teaching program in Spain. She shares how her time as a rural primary teacher changed and refreshed her perspective on education.

We’d like to thank our partners at our Princess of Girona Foundation and the National Rural Education Association for collaborating with us on this episode. The I Am a Rural Teacher campaign is made possible by a grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.