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A new education program will allow teaching candidates from the rural Ozarks to serve as interns in their home communities. KSMU’s Justin Lux has the story.
The Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO) and its Rural Schools Partnership have just begun the Ozarks Teacher Corps. The program is aimed at finding talented teachers who want to explore rural education issues.
This first year program consists of 18 sophomores and juniors from Ozarks area colleges. Each spring, a minimum of eight new participants will be added. They’ll be given the opportunity to intern in their home communities, and will receive an annual $4,000 scholarship from the Chesley and Flora Lea Wallis Scholarship Fund.
Julie Leeth, vice president of CFO, says that keeping these talented, young adults in their communities is important to rural school systems.
“Rural communities are only as strong as their schools. If young people don’t stay in smaller communities they’re obviously going somewhere. With them go their assets. Keeping these schools viable and keeping these young people wanting to come back and serve a cause in their small community is vitally important to the life of these communities,” she says.
The program has attracted students from local schools like Drury, Missouri State University, Evangel University and Ozarks Technical Community College.
For KSMU News, I’m Justin Lux.
