Rural Matters

Michelle chats with Tim Griffin, Lt. Gov. of Arkansas; Jeff Weld, Iowa State Director of STEM, STEM Education Policy Consultant for the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and author of the just released Federal STEM Strategic Plan; and Sheila Boyington, CEO of Learning Blade and national states chair for Million Women Mentors, about STEM education for girls. Only 24 percent of STEM jobs are currently held by women, Michelle notes. Boyington talks about being a token woman engineer and how to make girls and women more aware of STEM career opportunities and the importance of mentoring, including virtual mentoring in rural areas. Weld notes that, in Iowa, there are a variety of programs, including Scale Up, promoting diversity that are data-driven and whose impact is continually being assessed. These programs include teacher externships and initiatives that connect STEM students with professionals in hospitals and other businesses in rural and other communities. Lt. Gov. Griffin points out that coding is taught in every high school in Arkansas, producing a cultural and educational change in the lower grades as well. We’re underperforming in involving girls in STEM, according to Lt. Gov. Griffin, and there’s where the opportunities to meet national shortages in this area lie. Schools should take students on field trips to local businesses, concludes Boyington..and we need to use multiple resources to promote STEM education in general, and to girls specifically. This episode was sponsored by NREA, www.nrea.net and Learning Blade, www.learningblade.com.

Michelle chats with Paul Campbell, president and CEO of Enviro Systems, Inc., and founder and chairman of Advanced Rural Education, a nonprofit that launched a charter school in rural Oklahoma. Campbell describes how Enviro was concerned about recruiting and retaining talent in a rural setting, and that the perceived lack of educated personnel was a key factor behind that concern. How did Campbell implement his vision? By setting up “dinners and learn,” armed with a PowerPoint presentation, which created a lot of excitement in the community. Charters are “incubators” for education innovation, according to Campbell, and his school will be Pre-K through 12th grade in the next couple of years. The uniqueness of Campbell’s school is its focus beginning in ninth grade on a student’s choice for a career, which gets them to be prepared for that career, which might include college. Campbell’s students graduate with an Associate’s degree, giving them a leg up, to say the least, if they choose to go on to college. Those choices of career could range from veterinary medicine to professional sports. Really. If someone wants to start their own business, they’re asked to come up with a business plan. Really. This episode was sponsored by the National Rural Education Association, www.nrea.net, and Education Post, https://educationpost.org.

Michelle chats with Wade Owlett, the National Rural Education Association’s 2018’s Rural Teacher of the Year, about several important issues in rural education, including teaching students who are living in poverty, Ginny Mead’s hope theory, skills training, and teacher recruitment, and innovation. Owlett, who grew up on a dairy farm and now teaches at Clark Elementary School in Elkland, PA, notes that, in the educational setting, poverty can be traumatic, affecting everything from student achievement to health care, nutrition, and the opioid crisis. It’s important for teachers to offer hope and be facilitators in guiding students in their lives, Owlett asserts. How? By developing positive relationships with kids. In Pennsylvania, he points out, there’s an increased emphasis on job skills. Owlett is working on an interesting initiative to enable students to gain certification in different areas, such as babysitting. On the issue of teacher recruitment, rural schools tend to spend less on teacher salaries compared to urban schools, which is a key element, along with professional development, in recruiting teacher in rural communities. Owlett asserts proudly that he loves teaching at a rural school because he knows every student’s name and that adjacent communities are very supportive of each other. Bottom line: “Everything is connected in rural areas…which we should all embrace.” This episode was sponsored by the National Rural Education Association, www.nrea.net

Michelle chats with Kendall Singleton, head of business development at Healthy Bytes, a company that helps dietitians in both private settings and at corporations to get set up and paid for their services. Singleton points out that dietitians wear a lot of hats, as food is a type of medicine and is wrapped up in the basic human condition.  Today, she notes, a referral from a primary care physician is not necessarily needed for the services for dietitians to be reimbursed for their services. Also today, nutrition counseling is being delivered through a live video conversation through appropriate telehealth platforms, which are HIPAA compliant, such as Zoom, but not Skype. To be covered, insurance companies look for claims that include actual consultations with the reasons for the consult, documented eligibility for services, and proper filing of claims, all of which Healthy Bytes can assist dietitians with for reimbursement.  Healthy Bytes works with government funded insurers, such as Medicare and Medicaid, which has upsides and limitations for dietitian reimbursement, such as medical condition restrictions. This episode was sponsored by Healthy Bytes, www.healthybytes.co and AASA, the School Superintendents Association, www.aasa.org.

Michelle chats with Griselda Rendon, Latino Loan Specialist at the Center for Rural Affairs, and

Sandra Barrera, Extension Educator of Community Vitality, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln about several key rural matters. The guests discuss the burgeoning entrepreneurship among the Latino community in Nebraska and how the two organizations have collaborated to provide a resource and financial assistance to 123 small businesses in the state, including bakeries and travel agencies. The key to entrepreneurial success, the guests note, is for the entrepreneurs to follow their passion. The program includes walking tours to see how the local businesses are actually operating. As 2019 approaches, the guests note, they want to continue the successful path they have established in 2018, and to work on child care situations.

In celebration of National Rural Health Day on November 15, Michelle chats with Karen Madden, Director of the Charles D. Cook Office of Rural Health, Center for Health Care Policy and Resource Development, New York State Department of Health, and Founder of National Rural Health Day; Teryl Eisinger, Executive Director of the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health; and Dr. David Sabgir, Founder & CEO of Walk with a Doc. Eisinger notes that Natural Rural Health Day started about a decade ago as a way of garnering attention to the good work done by stakeholders in rural health and to the disparities that exist in rural communities. Eisinger discusses the value of the organic partnerships focusing on the needs of rural constituents, specifically citing the Community Star program, which this year has more than 100 nominations. Madden discusses the honor of winning the National Rural Health Association award and the significance of the slogan her organization coined —The Power of Rural.  Sabgir talks about the importance of physical activity, including the recent study by the Cleveland Clinic, and why his program provides the follow-up needed to better ensure patients actually participate in physical activity. There are now 431 chapters of Walk with a Doc in the United States, he notes, deploying the one-hour walk with a care provider—resulting in demonstrable positive outcomes. Eisinger and Madden also provide specific examples of the interconnection between rural health activities, and rural schools and education, and business. This episode is sponsored by AASA, the School Superintendent’s Association, www.aasa.org

Michelle chats with Lee Horner, CEO of Synzi, a virtual care company founded earlier this year, which is dedicated to delivering high quality health care to rural communities through new technology. Synzi is focused on taking video technology to access remote health care staff and leveraging technology to provide care for patients who are at home to prevent hospital readmissions. The company’s technology prompts Smartphone users, including elderly patients, to click applicable links, simplifying their health care experience by eliminating the necessity of providing passwords. The technology also can be used for mental health consultation and medication management, according to Horner. Horner points out that Synzi’s technologies enable home health agencies in rural communities to provide patients with chronic diseases with care applications that can be used on a Smartphone is seeing a primary care physician or a visit to the emergency room is not possible or preferable. The company focuses on using technology to supplement the care given by rural hospital staff, finding ways to simplify and automate communication, including  activities such as patient discharge. This episode was sponsored by AASA, the School Superintendent’s Association, www.aasa.org and Synzi, www.synzi.com.

In a podcast recorded at the 2018 Cerner Health Conference in Kansas City, Michelle talks with Mitchell Clark, Senior Vice President at Cerner, a global leader in the health information technology space, and the President of Cerner CommunityWorks, the company’s cloud-based IT platform that provides an integrated digital patient record; and Jeff Tindle, CEO of Carroll County (Missouri) Memorial Hospital. Tindle details some of the challenges facing rural hospitals, such as recruiting physicians and technology experts, impact of dollar decisions, reimbursement issues, and addressing the value-based care that’s the norm today. By managing chronic conditions facing many seniors on a proactive basis, Tindle hopes to cut costs and improve patient health. The hospital has seen a 300 percent increase in annual wellness visits and a boost in the number of patients under their chronic care management program from four to 50 per month. The hospital’s partnership with Cerner has enabled the hospital to use technology to improve their population health strategy and engage their patients in general. Clark notes that Cerner provides tools, including patient engagement portals and care management programs to assist hospitals nationwide. Tindle says that the community trusts the hospital more today and has confidence in the proactive patient engagement efforts, reducing emergency department visits. He also notes that the use of the electronic medical record is non-negotiable when it comes to recruiting physicians. Clark predicts that telemedicine and virtual health will become more common in rural health care. This episode was sponsored by AASA, the School Superintendents Association, www.AASA.org

Michelle chats with Brian Noyes, the founder and baker-in-chief of Red Truck Bakery, one of the most nationally acclaimed bakeries in the United States, about his journey from journalist to the Culinary Institute of America to his first sales vehicle (literally) — a red truck — to his two shops in rural Virginia to an incredible review in The New York Times, to his new book, The Red Truck Bakery Cookbook, published by Clarkson Potter/Penguin Random House. Find out how Tommy Hilfinger, tuna sandwiches, John Wayne, and President Obama and the text “POTUS says ‘yes’” all played a part in this amazing journey of a successful rural entrepreneur.  Also find out why Noyes chose Marshall, VA, as his original location and what famous actor “cut the rope” at the opening ceremony three years ago. Finally, you want to hear how the bakery led to several new stores opening adjacent to his location, why a rising tide does indeed lift all boats, and why Red Truck’s coffee is a key element in its success. Noyes is extremely supportive of local businesses and establishing a collegial, collaborative relationship with others in the community. For more information on the cookbook and Red Truck Bakery, visit www.redtruckbakery.com.

Michelle chats with Anthony Owen, chief state STEM officer and state director of computer education in the Arkansas Department of Education; Angela Hemingway, executive director of the Idaho STEM Action Center; and Kathleen Schofield, executive director of STEM2 Hub, about computer science and STEM programs in rural communities. Computer science and STEM education enables communities to keep students involved in their local rural areas in Arkansas, according to Owen. Hemingway notes that Idaho also has focused on retaining local talent and emphasized the importance of training educators. In addition, she says, more community colleges and universities are increasingly offering computer science and STEM courses, and there’s an understanding of the importance of STEM awareness among parents and communities, as well as students. Schofield discusses STEM learning ecosystems, involving more than 18,000 school districts nationwide. By working as an ecosystem in Florida, she notes, it involves more than just offering a course. It’s blending resources and connecting different communities in the state. This involves a computer science fair and a competition connecting students from rural and other areas. As far as funding is concerned, Owen notes that the legislature has added a $2.5 million line item in the budget for CS training and development and that CS is a required course in schools. Hemingway also notes that public-private partnerships can sometimes be converted into fundraising efforts and that, in Idaho, professional development training has been regionalized. Schofield talks about the importance of industry partners, noting that her organization STEM2Hub, was formed by industry members, and involves mentoring and funding commitments.  This episode was sponsored by Learning Blade, www.learningblade.com and AASA, the School Superintendent Association, www.AASA.org