Pre-Test, Mid-Term; A First-Year Rural Teacher Makes The Grade


Last Updated: January 10, 2012
 

from the Rural Trust Center for Midwestern Initiatives

Albert Bryant is a first-year mathematics teacher in tiny Everton, Missouri, his hometown.  A graduate of Drury University, Albert was in the inaugural class of the Ozarks Teacher Corps, an effort dedicated to encouraging outstanding teacher prospects to return to their rural home communities as teachers. The Ozarks Teacher Corps is funded by the Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ Rural School Partnership and provides participants with a $4,000 per year scholarship, seminars on rural education issues, and a variety of networking opportunities.

Albert is one of six spring 2011 graduates who were hired for rural Ozarks’ classrooms.  One other student was dismissed from the program for non-participation, and another returned their scholarship after accepting a position in an urban school.  Albert and his colleagues have been featured in Education Week, USA Today, School and Community, and they have become ambassadors for rural schools.  The program currently includes 25 future teachers from Drury, Missouri State University, and Evangel University.  The second class is comprised both of December ’11 and May ’12 graduates.

Click here to read the complete blog entry and view a July 2011 interview with Albert.