Teaching Rural 

Heart and journey, from teacher to student

It’s not just what you learn within the four walls of a classroom; it’s the hands-on experiences you never thought you’d have out of the classroom which makes the difference.

EOU’s Teach Rural Oregon is a rare gem in the space of higher education and is the umbrella over a multitude of opportunities for students at every step of the teaching journey.

“Teach Rural Oregon came about when we received grant funding in 2020 from the Oregon Department of Education and the Educators Advancement Council,” said Dave Dallas, Senior Instructor II in the College of Education and Director of Teach Rural Oregon. “We started looking at where we could create niches at every step of the journey: from students not quite sure if they want to go into education to current educators looking for professional development. Our ideas just kept snowballing because it’s not just about being an educator in a classroom. It’s about embracing education in every facet of life, through every step of your journey.”

There are a number of programs to engage students along their educational and career paths. The Eastern Oregon Teacher Academy provides intensive four-day workshops to expose students to a variety of activities to gain a better understanding of what teachers do and the multifaceted role educators play in the lives of students.

“We bring in faculty from the College of Education in addition to keynote speakers as well as faculty from other colleges. Peter Wordelman from the music department in the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, and Chad Mueller from the Agriculture Entrepreneurship program are just a few examples to share a different sense of education beyond the classroom,” Dallas said. Gaining an understanding of what it takes to be a teacher was just the first step.

“The Junior Field Experience program was another layer we wanted to add,” Dallas said. “This program allows students at the Gresham satellite campus access to gaining experience in rural locations.” The Experience sends students on two- to three-week field experiences into rural communities, including Umatilla, Enterprise, John Day, and Burns. It is a it is fully-immersive, where students provided stipends for room and board and have a real glimpse into rural living and teaching.

Janea Young, originally from Eureka, California, who is now teaching K-12 in Wallowa County said she grew her passion for teaching within her first few days. “My heart grew in a matter of moments when the kids started getting excited to see me.”

The Oregon Rural Teacher Corps supports students in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program and the Cottonwood Canyon Teacher Institute is an initiative for current teachers to access professional development opportunities.

“The Teacher Corps received a catalyst grant to launch the program, in addition to matching funds from the Ford Family Foundation, the Roundhouse Foundation, and Rural Schools Collaborative,” Dallas explained. “We have students teaching on emergency licenses, needing certifications to continue teaching in extremely rural districts. This initiative allows us to provide support for tuition assistance so these students can earn their MAT degrees.” What’s incredibly special about this program is the desire to help one another succeed, said Dallas. “The current class has already expressed interest in continuing in the program as mentors to the next cohort. Maybe even a rural education summit. We’re still in early conversations, but we couldn’t be more thrilled that there is interest and EOU is the spark and the conduit for these possibilities.”

Kolbe Bales, ‘18, who is now in the MAT program and just graduated in June 2023, discussed the collaborative nature of the Oregon Rural Teacher Corps and what it means for those teaching in extremely rural districts. “The very first week of classes I applied for the ORTC program and received the scholarship. The ORTC is a great way to collaborate with peers in similar school districts,” Bales said. “Those of us in the program this year are really looking forward to staying in touch and being mentors for next year’s cohort. The education program has been so excellent at communicating all of the expectations and opportunities. And the ORTC is such a collaborative system – there are a lot of ‘rural-minded’ people and working through our experiences with our peers really makes us all even better educators in our own districts.”

Bales gained classroom experience at the Imbler Charter School is exploring career options after graduation. “It’s a great community with wonderful people that make you feel like it’s being at home.”

The Cottonwood Canyon Teacher Institute provides professional development through intensive four-day workshops aimed to flourish current teachers’ skill sets, Dallas said.  “There is already a student-version of this happening with the Academy. We wanted to help local teachers. There are funds available to help where cost is prohibitive to the extremely rural districts.”

Current partners and new partnerships have been forged because of the projects of Teach Rural Oregon. “Different school districts and partners are seeing what we’re doing and want to participate,” Dallas said. “They see high-quality graduates, along with our commitment to serving the rural regions and say ‘Hey, I want to be a part of this,’ and just like that we’re able to always collaborate with people who are like-minded and have similar goals.” “This is one way we can grow education in rural areas and how we can help attract students to teach in rural settings.  It’s about going back and putting down roots to be a long-term impact and member of the community they’re teaching.”