The application and information for the 2021-22 program. Additionally, I am attaching the program logo and a finished graphic below. Don't feel obligated to use them, but they may be useful as a visual for a newsletter or social media post. Applications are due no later than October 15th of this year.

The program is offered to anyone within our 11 Hub areas, and we are hoping for a few applicants from each Hub. One thing to note is recipients not only receive the $2,000 towards grant work, but an additional $1,000 honorarium - a great additional perk!

In today’s environment, broadband access is a critical component of high-quality education. Unfortunately, more than 14 million Americans still lack access to high-speed broadband, including many students who live in rural areas where nearly 1 in 5 Americans are still on the wrong side of the digital divide. That’s far too many students who are unable to access the high-tech educational tools and resources needed to thrive in the 21st-century classroom and, ultimately, join America’s workforce.

Research has shown the vast implications that broadband access can have on students; not only are students with broadband access more likely to earn high school and college degrees but they are expected to earn over $2 million more throughout their lifetimes.

In this special episode of the Rural Voice, the cohosts Drs. Pratt, Bigham, and Silver invite NREA friend and contributor, Dr. Brad Mitchell, to respond to a recent article from the New York Times titled The Tragedy of America’s Rural Schools by Casey Parks, Published Sept. 7, 2021. As noted in this article, the discussants discuss some of the challenges of making overarching claims in a single case study example. We discuss contextual challenges and benefits of education in rural America, including strategic partnerships, identifying problems at the local level, avoid stereotyping of rural education and learning as one problem and solution fits all, and the need for coordinated efforts to address these problems beyond the political sphere of influence to pragmatic accountability. This accountability is top-down and bottom-up, where we all need to work together to address these issues, including race and demographics, socio-economic challenges, and meeting the job market needs within each locale. We collectively call on the New York Times to consider addressing the policy and practices at the local level to address these issues, avoid overgeneralizations based on a single case study to include more narratives of students, teachers, and families to meet our educational goals, and recognize that justice is about precise regional understanding and implementation within schools and community. Dr. Mitchell suggests examples might include the Good Jobs Challenge, and each state should have a rural policy of the practice to address these growing challenges.