GYO NOVEMBER 2022 NEWSLETTER

November 7 th, 2022

Highlights from the Effingham School Visit in September

On September 23rd, three students from the EIU Rural Teacher Corps visited Effingham Unit #40. The new superintendent, Andy Johnson, and South Side Elementary School principal Cheri Marten gave Holly Higgins, Isabel Lee, and Rebecca Habing a tour of South Side Elementary School and Effingham Junior High School. The students were excited to hear about Mr. Johnson's vision for Effingham schools. 

Rural Networking Night

On October 18th we had the Rural Networking Night at Buzzard Hall! We had a really good turn out of schools and future educators! Thank you to all of the schools and districts who came, and thanks to the students who attended! Here are some highlights from the evening! 

Rural School Initiative is an organization that develops educators and members of the community to work together and address common issues in rural education. A huge issue we are trying to fight is the Illinois teacher shortage. The Illinois State Board of Education reported 5,301.8 unfilled positions this year. We are trying to increase partnerships with schools to recruit future teachers, support alternative paths to licensure, and increase support for our current and new Grow Your Own Program. Recently we hosted an event called the Rural Networking Night that brought schools and students together.

The Rural School Initiative hosted our annual Networking Night on October 18th. Networking Night allowed students and schools to meet and get to know each other. This night gave students and schools a connection. Students could go around to tables and find out what those schools’ values and purpose are. Holly Higgins, the Rural Teacher Corps Student Coordinator who has been working with us since she was a freshman, stated, “This event gives students the opportunity to practice their networking skills and it helps schools to fill vacant positions.” Higgins also expressed, “This was my last Rural School Networking Night. It was nice to see students that I have met through Rural Teacher Corps make connections with schools. It makes me excited to see other students excited about rural education!”

Drone and Robot Workshops

During the month of October the Rural School Initiative hosted two technology workshops about using robots and drones in the classroom. During the October 11th workshop three students attended and learned how to fly drones and brainstormed ways to utilize them in the classroom with various age groups. 

Two EIU students attended the robots and drones workshop on October 27th. During this session they went through an overview of basic Computational Thinking and how it connects to Computer Science.  The focus of the session on Robots and Drones was chosen because it fits perfectly as a hands-on activity using computational thinking in lessons which can be adapted to any subject area.  We created basic code to control common classroom robots. Afterwards, we transitioned to the drone technology. Drones truly are just robots that can fly.  We discussed the aerodynamics and flight control for drones. There was some discussion of safety and legal rules for flying drones.

 The highlight was participants getting to fly the drones around the room and then down the hallways in Buzzard Hall at EIU. They were both successful and completed a full flight out and back into the classroom. We extended to talk about using computer science to automate the flight path. Finally, we wrapped up with a short brainstorming for ideas to integrate robots and drones into teaching and learning for all age levels.

Have A Great Thanksgiving!

Whether you have any questions to ask or stories to share, we'd love to hear from you!