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When the White House recently celebrated the latest class of National Board Certified teachers, several of the honorees traveled to Washington from some of America’s most remote and distant rural communities to receive the teaching profession’s highest credential. During their visit, we caught up with these rural teachers to hear their stories about what it’s like to teach in rural America.

When the White House recently celebrated the latest class of National Board Certified teachers, several of the honorees traveled to Washington from some of America’s most remote and distant rural communities to receive the teaching profession’s highest credential. During their visit, we caught up with these rural teachers to hear their stories about what it’s like to teach in rural America.

Rural lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students feel less safe at school than their peers in suburban and urban areas, according to a national study on LGBT students in rural and small town schools. The study, "Strengths and Silences: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Students in Rural and Small Town Schools," was released last week by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network and examines the experiences of more than 2,300 LGBT high school students in rural areas.

The head of Montana’s Office of Public Instruction traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to stand up for rural schools, especially schools on reservations. Rural districts face challenges in complying with the methods set for improving results in their lowest-performing schools – action required as a condition for receiving billions of dollars in federal aid, Education Week’s Lesli Maxwell writes here.

But rural means something very different on the East Coast than it does in the far-flung reaches of the West, Juneau told the annual legislative conference of the Council of Chief State School Officers. “The frontier is really where we are,” she says. “We are more rural than rural.”

Whether you’re on a farm, in a small town, or at home in your slippers, we’re inviting you to join us on Monday, April 30, from noon to 6 p.m. ET for the National Rural Education Technology Summit 2.0, as we use the power of technology to overcome distance, bring resources to rural schools, and engage administrators, teachers, and students in this free virtual conference.

A new scholarship program launched this summer by the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth will give bright, low-income rural students the chance to take part in a challenging summer program at sites across the country.

The Instructional Innovations Unit is excited to provide an incredible online resource for all Montana educators. This professional development data base within the OPI website contains hundreds of video clips, lessons, and resources that can be downloaded onto your computer and iPod.  This resource is a direct result of the Montana Reading First project.  However, it also contains content for teachers Pre-K through high school.  Knowing that statewide professional development is extremely difficult because of the rural nature of our state, the Montana Reading First project director, Debbie Hunsaker, planned and initiated this resource called ‘Knowledge Box’. Throughout the implementation of the Reading First project, national and local presenters were filmed and the content was edited into short video clips, resources, and lessons. To access this resource go to the OPI website www.opi.mt.gov and click on Instructional Innovations under Programs. http://opi.mt.gov/Streamer/Instructional_Innovations/index.php#gpm1_5 For more information, contact BJ Granbery, 444-4420

President Obama has challenged us all to help “Win the Future” by out-educating, out-innovating, and out-building our competitors in the 21st century. President Obama believes the best ideas come from the American people. That’s why the White House started a series called “Champions of Change.” Each week, the White House selects 5-20 Americans, businesses, or organizations who are doing extraordinary things in their communities. This series highlights a different group each week ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community activists. The Office of Public Engagement hosts a roundtable event here at the White House to honor those who are “Winning the Future” and empowering and inspiring other members of their respective communities.  Agency representatives and White House Policy Offices participate in the event and host a discussion on amplifying best practices learned in each area. Paired with each White House event, these “Champions” are featured on the White House website. The Champions of Change series is designed for people to look into their communities and nominate everyday heroes who are demonstrating commitment to improving their own communities, their country, or their fellow citizens. That is why the White House is looking for you to nominate someone as a “Champion of Change” who is doing extraordinary things to make a difference in your community. The White House will consider your nominations as they feature people who are bringing about change in their communities to share their ideas on how to win the future. Champions of Change, for example, are: Longstanding businesses that are expanding or investing in new ideas, companies that are adding jobs, hiring back those they laid off and investing in their workers and entrepreneurs who are “betting on winning the future” - starting new companies or commercializing new ideas. People rebuilding neighborhoods, putting brownfields, vacant housing and buildings back to work, making the streets safe for children to play in, creating opportunities for neighbors to come together and harnessing the power of the arts to forge awareness and new bonds. Innovative teachers and school leaders creating engaging and rigorous learning environments that get results, out of school programs providing hope, inspiration and opportunity, young adults setting off to be entrepreneurs or leaders in their communities, programs giving adult learners the skills they need to succeed in a 21st century economy. Communities restoring our waterways and preserving our parks, prairies and preserves for future generations, programs investing in our farmlands and rural America, inventors and innovators harnessing America's natural resources for our shared clean energy future. For more information on the Champions of Change Series and past Champions, please visit:www.whitehouse.gov/champions.  To nominate someone as a Champion of Change, please visit: www.whitehouse.gov/champions/nominate. 

You can download the My Learning Plan Directions here! Download the agenda here! What:OPI Tobacco Prevention InitiativeDana Geary will present the state initiative on tobacco prevention policy and incentives for school districts to become involved.  Dana will also indicate the policies that will change in the MSSA Rural Policy Handbook for adoption.  New tobacco products aimed at our youth will be presented during the course if this half-day workshop. Media Literacy 101 Kids spend an average of more than 7 hours a day with some form of media. As a result, they sometimes grow up having more interaction with TV, the Internet, and other media messages than people. Media Literacy refers to the ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages of all kinds. This interactive training will explore basic concepts of media literacy by examining TV commercials, messages and print ads, and tobacco and alcohol marketing. We will work in small and large groups to discuss the language of persuasion, deconstruct ads, and create counter messages. After this training, participants will have a greater understanding of media literacy and walk away with tools they can use with their learners. Objective 1: Participants will define media literacy and understand some techniques of persuasion. Objective 2: Participants will understand how media literacy education helps prevent tobacco and alcohol initiation among youth. Objective 3: Participants will learn new media literacy activities and exercises they can do with their learners.When and Where: Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 at the Lewistown Yogo Inn Mountain RoomsMonday, February 27th, 2012 at the Butte Quality Inn Big Sky Room (formerly War Bonnet)Tuesday, February 28th, 2012 at the Bozeman Comfort Inn Big Sky Room8:30 am - 4:00 pm All daysContact:Sharon M. RedfernExecutive Director, RESA4UPhone: (406) 422-5049 (Home)  (406) 672-1549 (Cell)Email: sredfern@resa4u.org or smredfern@optimum.net

What: As a part of the Mayo Clinic’s outreach to rural communities, we are fortunate to have Dr. Tanya Brown come to Missoula to share information about non– verbal learning disabilities. The purpose of these sessions is to understand the history, identify core features and review case illustrations of non-verbal learning disabilities for parents, educators and medical staff. Monday’s lecture will focus on core features and strategies to support students in home and school . Tuesday’s lecture will provide more of the medical background behind diagnosis, review case illustrations and relevant treatment recommendations and accommodations.

The OPI-Division of Special Education will be offering a series of 5 webinars on secondary transition.  Providing great secondary transition services to high school youth can be challenging.  This webinar series, presented by Montana teachers and providers, will give multiple strategies on implementing secondary transition in a rural district or a large district that has provided great results for the Montana school districts that have used them.  A flyer with descriptions of each of the webinars can be found at: http://www.opi.mt.gov/pdf/SpecED/Link/10NovWebinarBestPractices.pdf The webinars are free and no registration is required. The webinars will start at 3:30 p.m. and last about an hour each.  One renewal unit will be offered for each live webinar.  The webinars can be attended individually or the whole series.  The webinars will be posted on the OPI Web site after the live webinar.  Please forward this information to high school teachers and other personnel that you think may be interested. Questions regarding this series can be sent to Nikki Sandve at nsandve@mt.gov or call (406) 444-0299.

What: Dating and Healthy Relationships - Youth Track Web Conference When: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 1:00 - 2:00 Mountain Time Join us for the fourth and final session in our 2009/2010 Youth Track Web Conference series! During this web conference, you will learn about: Friendships, dating, and marriage How to meet other young people How parents can help us make safe and healthy choices What resources are available to learn more about this topic And much more! Youth Track sessions are geared toward young adults (13-30) with developmental disabilities. We encourage teachers to allow their students to participate in these sessions as a class activity. Family members, educators, service providers, and other interested individuals are always welcome to attend the Youth Track web conferences.

We are looking for examples of young people, age 18-30, in Montana who have a developmental disability according to the Montana definition and have creatively organized their supports to: Live in the community (on their own or with family or  friends) and/or Work in the community (including owning their own business) and/or Access inclusive education (high school, college, trade school, community classes) and/or Participate in recreation and leisure activities that are inclusive (that is, alongside people without disabilities) We want examples of supports that have been creatively organized around the person, individualized to their interests and needs.  These supports can be organized and managed by a funded adult agency or family and friends.  We are also looking for examples of creative funding such as blended services and natural supports, use of Social Security Administration work incentives, privately funded services or traded or bartered supports. Selected leaders will have their stories featured on the Montana Transition Listserv and in the annual Emerging Leader Showcase. They will also receive a monetary stipend for their time. To nominate yourself or someone you know as an Emerging Leader, visit the Rural Institute Transition Projects Website for a brief nomination form and a consent form.

Click here to read the article (PDF) The FFA motto is simple but challenging: Learning to Do, Doing to Learn, Earning to Live, Living to Serve. More than a half million agricultural education students in nearly 7,500 FFA chapters across the U.S. and its territories have accepted the challenge to live out that motto. This article showcases a few examples of how AgrAbility interfaces with FFA, how FFA provides bridges to new levels of learning for rural youth with and without disabilities, and how some chapters are serving people with disabilities in their communities.

Reece Barnes meets with his speech therapist every week. He walks down the hallway at his rural Burney, Calif., school and chats with her one-on-one, even though she is four hours away in another part of the state.

Exposure to traumatic or violent experiences negatively affects the health, education, and development of preschool-aged children in Kansas City's urban communities and in rural and suburban communities throughout the state of Missouri. Without intervention, these children often experience lifelong emotional disturbance, social developmental delays, and learning problems.