Ed-Tech Roundtable: Save the Date! 

The Rural School Initiative is hosting a discussion on Thursday March 18th at 4 pm CDT. The purpose is to discuss programs and Ed-Tech issues impacting P-16 Education.  We will share a regional Tech Survey, but primarily want to explore common issues, share working solutions, and consider opportunities for collaboration.  

We are inviting university faculty, administrators, P-12 curriculum leaders, and technology directors/teachers. The online discussion last about an hour.  Please click this link to register or receive follow-up information.  You can choose to just stay on the contact list as well.  

 The Zoom link will be sent to those choosing to participate. 

Teacher Mini-Grant Winner Stories 

Central Illinois Rural Teacher Corps grant winner, Devanne Lawson, teaches first grade at Carl Sandburg Elementary School. “The grant provided a class set of whisper phones to the students so that they can safely use them during this time of having personal supplies,” Devanne said. “The grant provided a set of social emotional books as well as books to support learning about the rural area we live in. The grant also provided a hundreds chart to help provide a visual for math.”  

Student Story  

The EIU Rural Teacher Corps members are hard at work planning events for area school districts to integrate and collaborate with their communities. Freshman Liberty Watson writes about her upcoming project below: 

“For my community project I will be working with Villa Grove #302. The big picture for my project is to figure out ways to help students and families get food and materials they need. I am also interested in finding out how the schools are handling the online learning scenario and how they may be helping their students who don’t always have access to internet. Right now, I am in the research and communication stage of everything. I reached out to the elementary principle, Mr. Beck, and hope to meet with him to ask a few questions and figure out a plan on how we could be of help in the community.” 

Spring Networking Night 

The EIU Rural School Initiative has begun to plan a virtual networking night for the spring semester. In order to ensure that the evening runs smoothly, a planning committee consisting of EIU students, area administration, and staff was established and met on March 10th. The Networking Night is set for April 13th @ 5:30pm. If you have a concern, question, or suggestion about the Networking Night, please send to jmnorton@eiu.edu. Keep an eye out for more updates about this opportunity! 

Outstanding RTC Member 

This month, the Rural School Initiative would like to recognize Liberty Watson as an outstanding Rural Teacher Corps member. Liberty has volunteered to participate in “Why Wednesday” videos and works in the EIU GYO office!

Liberty is a freshman Elementary Education major with an endorsement in Early Childhood Education. She is from Camargo, IL. Liberty says, "My favorite part of being in the RTC is the sense of community I can get from it. I know if I have any questions they will be more than willing to answer and help me out. It also gives me an inside into the world of teaching when I am just a freshman. Additionally, I get to learn about the schools in the area!"

Upcoming Events

• March 18th: Tech Contact Roundtable

• March 25th: Tech Workshop: Coding with Jordan Bear

• April 6th: Rural Networking Night

• April 13th: EIU Rural Teacher Corps Meeting