Pictured are Monmouth College Rural Teacher Corps TARTANS students:  Alex Johnson, Holly Reyner, Mckenzie Campbell, and Elizabeth Reasoner.

​

At a recent Rural Schools Collaborative visioning and planning meeting held at Monmouth College students from the TARTANS rural teacher corps program shared experiences from the program and answered questions from a national audience of rural educators.

TARTANS stands for Teachers Allied with Rural Towns and Neighborhood Schools and is a program not only developing rural teachers, but is an effort to improve the quality of life in rural schools and communities.  The program is designed after the Ozark Teacher Corps in Missouri and the national model that is developing from that work.  Pictured are TARTANS students:  Alex Johnson, Holly Reyner, Mckenzie Campbell, and Elizabeth Reasoner.

This program along with work at Western Illinois University, Eastern Illinois University, Quincy University and Southern Illinois University is part of a statewide effort to address the significant and growing teacher shortage in rural schools throughout Illinois.  AIRSS is an advocate for the development of a more robust rural teacher corps program and continuing to seek support at the state level for this work.

For specific information on the TARTANS program check out the website  monmouthcollege.edu/academics/educational-studiesor contact Michelle Holschuh-Simmons (msimmons@monmouthcollege.edu) or Tammy LaPrad (TLAPRAD@monmouthcollege.edu)