EIU Grow Your Own Program
The Rural School Initiative was created to address issues that were being experienced at EIU and with our local school partners. The most pressing was recruiting and retaining candidates who would be teachers in our rural communities. To that end, we applied for and received a Grow Your Own Grant from the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Our first funding was a planning grant in 2018, and we have been refunded each year since then. The GYO Program consists of two components – one short-term and one long-term solution to the teacher shortage.
Short-Term
The short-term solution is a support program for paraprofessionals and parent/community leaders to complete licensure so they can become teachers. This is done in collaboration with our teacher education program. We provide funds to cover tuition and fees, while also providing a support system to help them complete the program.
Long-Term
The long-term solution is to develop teaching pathways. We began with a campus-based Rural Teacher Corps that connects future teachers with rural schools. Last year we started 10 pilot high school groups to recruit students to teaching programs and a New Teacher Rural Teacher Corps to support new teachers. This year we are working on a community college Rural Teacher Corps.
2021-22 Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellows Program
The Rural Schools Collaborative’s Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellows program provides grant awards to rural school teachers who engage their students in exemplary place-based learning.. Eligible applicants should propose a place-based research project that will be completed by the end of the 2021-22 school year. Click below for the application!
New ROE 9 Cohort
Eastern Illinois University is pleased to partner with Regional Office of Education 9 to develop and deliver innovative programs to improve access to teacher licensure for adult learners living in the ROE 9 region. To learn more visit: https://www.eiu.edu/rsi/roe9.php
Apply for New Teacher Mini Grants
APPLY by September 15, 2021 for mini-grants of $200 to five new teachers in their first 2 years of teaching! Apply by clicking the link below:
RTC Events
Pictured left are Rural Teacher Corps members Holly Higgins and Liberty Watson recruiting new students at PantherPalooza. On the right, a luncheon was held for RTC members regarding the upcoming year.
EIU Rural School Initiative Update
Hello! My name is Brianna Grotts and I am the new Graduate Assistant in EIU’s Rural School Initiative office. I am originally from Carthage, IL and attended Truman State University for my undergraduate degree. I have recently started EIU’s graduate program for Speech-language Pathology. I am passionate about rural communities and education so this role is a great fit and I am excited to get started!
Upcoming Events:
Sep. 9 @ 6 PM: Planning event (Buzzard Hall 1103)
Sep. 15 @ 6:30PM: New Teacher RTC (via Zoom)
Sep. 21 6:00PM: RTC meeting (Buzzard Hall 1302)
Whether you have any questions to ask or stories to share, we'd love to hear from you!
