Morehead State partners with National Rural Education Association for Appalachian Hub

Morehead State University’s Ernst & Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education is partnering with the National Rural Education Association to create a new Appalachian Hub. As part of the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC) mission, this hub will assist rural schools and teachers from a four-state Appalachian region (Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina). These RSC hubs, established in various states and territories across the U.S., help RSC and partners exchange stories and information, collaborate on projects and seek funding opportunities to support rural schools.  

“We will strive to capitalize on existing assets and continue to bridge the gap between higher education and schools throughout Appalachia,” said Dr. Shane Shope, associate professor in the Education Leadership Program in the Volgenau College of Education. “We are honored to be the newest member of RSC's Rural Hub program and consider this a great opportunity for Morehead State University and the Volgenau College of Education to grow and impact rural communities.”    

Among the efforts that will involve RSC Appalachian Hub partners will be the Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellows Program, which provides grants to rural schoolteachers that emphasize place-based learning action research with their students. RSC is also in the process of putting together a Youth Educators Advisory (YEA) Council and producing a series of podcasts in conjunction with its I Am A Rural Teacher initiative.   

Dr. Antony Norman, dean of the Volgenau College of Education, said he is encouraged by this partnership’s possibilities.  

“This collaborative in particular is giving us some really concrete examples and models,” Norman said. “As we look at other models, we can start to find markers of success that go beyond meeting accreditation and state standards. We can start to say, here are four or five skills, values, beliefs that we want to instill in our students that would make them, beyond just good rural educators, but the best of the best.”  

Norman, an Appalachian Hub contact, can be reached at adnorman@moreheadstate.edu or by calling 606-783-2162.  

To learn more about MSU’s Ernst and Sara Lane Volgenau College of Education and its programs, call 606-783-2162 or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/education.   

For the next five years, MSU will be discounting graduate tuition on all 600-level courses within the Volgenau College of Education. For more details on the reduced tuition, as well as information on graduate and certification programs offered by the Volgenau College of Education, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/kyeducators.