NREA: A Good Return on Investment

I've spent a lot of time lately looking at how little the U.S. Department of Education does for rural communities. When I compare the resources the department is supposed to be using to support rural schools with the actual outcomes I wonder why rural educators aren't fighting mad.

The antithesis of the USDE is the National Rural Education Association. I had never really thought about all the things that NREA does for rural schools on a pretty small budget. Here's a partial list of the association's efforts on behalf of rural schools and communities:

1. The annual conference
2. The Rural Educator
3. Rural Education News
4. NREA website
5. NREA listserv
6. NREA Teacher of the Year Award
7. National Rural Education Advocacy Coalition
8. NREA Essay contest
9. Research Symposium
10. Stanley A. Brzenzski Memorial Research Award
11. NREA Mini-grant Program
12. NREA Hero Award
13. Edward W. Chance Memorial Dissertation Award
14. NREA Service Award
15. Dr. Joe Newlin Scholarship Fund
16. Grant Writing Institute
17. Legislative Forum
18. Mini-grant program
19. NREA Exemplary Practices/Programs Award
20. Howard A. Dawson Memorial Award

This list doesn't include the important advocacy work that NREA does on behalf of rural school and the encouragement it gives to its affiliates and members. The upshot is that NREA is working hard on behalf of rural schools and deserves considerable credit for those efforts. You can learn more about NREA and its activities at http://www.nrea.net/.

There are NREA two events coming up that are worthy of note. The first is the Grant Writing Institute Hobart Harmon and I are doing on May 6-7, 2005 in Oklahoma City. The Institute is designed specifically for grant seekers from rural schools and communities and provides participants with strategies and tools for developing successful grant proposals. It is designed to give participants the opportunity to apply what they learn toward preparing an actual proposal for a project they would like to have funded. Participants will leave the institute with the preliminary framework of a proposal and a resource notebook. The registration deadline is April 22, 2005.

The second event is the NREA Research Symposium on November 5-6, 2005; at the Radisson Hotel, Downtown; Tucson, Arizona. The NREA Research Symposium will precede the 97th Annual NREA Convention, which is scheduled on November 7-9, 2005. NREA is returning to a format in which research sessions are held prior to the regular conference giving participants an opportunity to engage in substantive conversations about rural education research. The deadline for submitting proposals is May 1, 2005.

The bottom line is that an NREA membership is a good investment. Let Executive Director Bob Mooneyham and the Executive Committee know how much you appreciate their efforts.