Join me as John White and Dreama Gentry discuss the importance of providing opportunities for post-secondary access to rural students. Using the work that is being done by the Partners for Education out of Berea College in Kentucky as a guidepost, we talk about what can be done to highlight the ways these paths to college can improve students' lives, rural economics, and rural community outcomes.Mr. White is a national communications consultant working primarily in education, helping clients address their most urgent needs and generating media coverage of innovation and progress. He has worked with local, state and national journalists for more than 20 years, increasing the publicβs understanding of key policies and programs while promoting and protecting the reputations of both public and private organizations.John served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office of Communications at the U.S. Department of Education in the Obama Administration (2009-2013). He ledcommunications for the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, represented U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on the White House Rural Council and was theSecretaryβs designee to the Interagency Coordinating Council for the Appalachian Regional Development Initiative. He traveled to more than 40 states visiting schools and colleges, communicating federal policies and seeking feedback to improve programs. John also served as Chief of Staff to Maryland State Superintendent Lillian Lowery at theMaryland State Department of Education (2013-2015). He guided the agencyβsmessaging during a time of tremendous change and progress, including implementation of new college and career-ready standards based on the Common Core, new Partnershipfor Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) assessments, and new teacher and principal evaluation systems in all local school systems.As executive director of Partners for Education, Dreama Gentry leads Berea Collegeβs educational outreach into Appalachian Kentucky. Partners for Education supports the educational aspirations of 50,000 students across eastern Kentucky using an annual budget of $40 million. An Annie E. Casey Children and Family Fellow, Gentry also serves on the board of directors for the Fahe, a community development non-profit, and the Pine Mountain Settlement School. She is a member of the equity coalition convened by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, which seeks to ensure Kentuckyβs school accountability system provides educational excellence to all students. Recently, she organized the annual Rural College Access and Success Summit, an event that brings together approximately 400 participants from across the country to improve the educational opportunities available to students from rural communities. Gentry holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Berea College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky. Come get the Scoop on what is happening in rural education!
ππ¨π©π²π«π’π π‘π & ππ¬π ππ¨ππ’ππ:
Β© 2026 Melissa Sadorf / The Rural Scoop. All rights reserved.
The content of The Rural Scoop, including podcast episodes, audio recordings, transcripts, show notes, graphics, and other original materials, is protected by copyright. No portion of this content may be reproduced, republished, distributed, modified, or used for commercial purposes without prior written permission from the copyright owner. Brief quotations or other uses may be permitted under applicable fair-use principles.
For permission requests, please contact:
Dr. Melissa Sadorf
Email: [email protected]
Phone: (520) 266-0081
