Rural Imperative Initiative By Dr. Melissa Sadorf, ARSA President One of the foundations of the Arizona Rural Schools Association is the recognition of the critical role that teachers play in our rural schools across the state. Through our programs like the Teacher of the Year recognition and the Rosie B. Rubio scholarship that assists in the development of rural teachers, ARSA actively seeks to highlight the work our rural teachers do every day that make a positive impact on the lives of their students. One such effort has recently launched, and ARSA is proud to highlight their work. ARSA has partnered with the Rural Schools Collaborative, the National Rural Education Association and the Community Foundation of the Ozarks to launch the Rural Imperative Initiative. This effort is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is a multifaceted program that aims to build a compelling national narrative that is both evidential and aspirational, and connects the “story” of rural education to state, regional, and national policymakers and influencers. In order to amplify the influence of rural teachers, the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) identified five regions throughout the UI.S. to convene Rural Teacher Caucuses. These groups’ efforts will culminate in a “Policy Playbook” of local recommendations based on the specific challenges and opportunities in their area. Each partner organization received $10,000 in funding to support the work of teacher-leaders in the development of the Policy Playbook. The regional partners cover a wide range of rurality: Borderlands region: Arizona Rural Schools Association Appalachia region: The University of Tennessee – Chattanooga Black Belt region: The University of West Alabama Northern California region: North State Together & CSU Chico Rust Belt region: Missouri State University Page 3 “Advocating for rural education has been a long-standing priority for each of these five organizations, said Taylor McCabe-Juhnke, the RSC Executive Director. She further stated, “We are honored to work with such high caliber partners to create a meaningful platform for teacher advocacy.” We agree with Director McCabe-Juhnke! As the ARSA Lead for this project, Dr. Sadorf is thrilled to announce the teacher leaders that will be working on the Policy Playbook partnership. These outstanding rural educators have been recognized as leaders in their school communities as ARSA County Teachers of the Year or NAU Teacher of the Year. It is her honor and privilege to work with them in the creation of policy recommendations specific to the Borderlands region for inclusion in the Policy Playbook. Tracy Banker-Murtadza: Kindergarten – 3rd Grade teacher in the San Fernando School District Travis Brady: Character Coach in the Casa Grande Union High School District Gemma Gomez: 1st Grade teacher in the Salome Consolidated Elementary School District Rae Massey: Kindergarten teacher in the Topock School District Kaitlin McGill: 8th Grade Science and AG Science in the Crane Elementary School District Christina Musselman: 1st Grade teacher in the Lake Havasu Unified School District Cherri Redd: Science teacher in the Yavapai Accommodation School District Ty White: First and Second Year Chemistry in the Wilcox Unified School District (Mr. White was also awarded the ARSA Teacher of the Year for 2021.) (continued on page 5) “Stronger Together!”
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