Kansas State University
Kansas State University's College of Education is strengthening rural school-community connections and advancing computer science education in Kansas thanks to a $2.9 million grant from the Patterson Family Foundation.
Teachers from 10 elementary schools in rural Kansas will have support integrating place-based education into their curriculum through school-community connection and collaboration in a project led by Karen Eppley, associate professor of education and director of K-State's Rural Education Center.
"We're trying to bridge the gap between curriculum and community," Eppley said. "Rural places tend to be known as places where schools and communities are tightly knit, and we want to build on this by working with teachers to operationalize what they already know about their place and use it as a tool to engage students in learning about their communities."
The project also complements K-State's work through the Cyber Pipeline program by advancing computer science teaching and learning in these rural communities. Students will learn about Kansas history with computer science as a conduit for learning.
"We're offering computer science as a tool for learning about place," Eppley said. "The teachers can use whatever tools are most appropriate to teach about place, but we are offering computer science as a powerful tool for learning about their rural communities and rural Kansas history."
Eppley said this work is important for rural communities because it also helps develop economic vitality.
"If we can support teacher learning about computer science, then we'll have kids who are comfortable and excited about computer science, which opens doors to computer science careers that are particularly useful for rural communities," Eppley said. "Because a lot of computer science jobs are remote, it allows students to stay in place, make a good living wage and contribute to the local economy."
The College of Education will host an on-campus kickoff event for the project on Thursday, November 13 to meet and establish relationships with the enrolled teachers.
Eppley, who joined the university in August, said the project's ultimate goal is to prioritize ongoing professional development and to create a repository of lessons about rural Kansas that can be available for use by future teachers.
"I care deeply about rural schools and teachers, and my passion is connecting them to resources and professional development," Eppley said. "To be able to make this happen at a place like K-State so early in my tenure here has been tremendous. I can't wait to get started."