A couple of years ago, a friend gave me the title Black Folks Education Ambassador, and since that reveal, I have embraced that moniker. This school year, I am starting my 19th year in education and am currently a Social Studies/History Teacher at Rockingham Early College High School for Rockingham County Schools. Always feeling that the ability to serve as an utmost responsibility, I have actively contributed to community activism, non-profit organizations, and political spaces since graduating from Catawba College in 1986. Receiving a BA in Political Science Pre-Law and a minor in Speech from Catawba in 2009 would receive a MA in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A year later, I would complete a Post Baccalaureate Certification in African American Studies, also from UNCG. In 2016, I would receive a certificate for Non-Degree Academically/Intellectually Gifted Licensure Add-On Program from Duke University.

I currently serve on the Dan River Basin Association boards, Help Incorporated Center Against Violence, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, and Historic Stagville Foundation. In 2023 I was elected to the North Carolina National Council for the Social Studies Board of Directors and a member of the  National Council for Social Studies, where I serve on the Carter G. Book Committee.

In 2022, I received the James Arthur Griggs Civil Rights Memorial Award from the Rockingham County Branch of the NAACP. I received the Outstanding Teacher of North Carolina History Award from the Historical Society of North Carolina. Because of my extensive work with the Museum and Archives of Rockingham County (MARC), where I serve on the Planning Committee, I am also the Director of the Griggs Project, which is the historical research and programs around the United States Supreme Court case of Griggs vs. Duke Power Company (1971). This year, I am completing Year 2 of The Rural Experience in America, sponsored by the National Council of History Education. I am a member and serve on the Teachers’ Advisory Council.

I also hold membership in the Rockingham County Reading Association, Professional Educators of North Carolina (PENC), and the American Federation of Teachers.

I am the mother of 3 adult daughters, my son-in-law, and 4 grandchildren, with # 5 due any day now.

Joe Brewer is a social science and history teacher at Cuba High School where he also directs the school’s Forgottonia Project.  Joe received a degree in Social Science Education from Olivet Nazarene University and an MA in sociology from Western Illinois University.  He resides in Cuba, Illinois and enjoys reading, coaching, wrestling with his dogs, and spending time with his wife and stepsons.

Hello, my name is Lueisha Dixon, Ed.S., and I am a third-year doctoral student at South Carolina State University.  I am majoring in educational leadership with an emphasis on rural education.  I have taught in various positions throughout my 15 year teaching career, but right now, I am a lead teacher at a career technical magnet school in Augusta, GA.  I love history, especially, rural/southern history, and try my best to bring history alive to my students! Through primary document analysis and field base experiences, I hope my students gain a love of history as much as I have! I am currently, engaged with a 9-year-old son and hopefully by October, I will be Dr. Lueisha Golden, Ed.D. My future career aspirations are to work in curriculum development with an emphasis on rural educational needs.

Hi. My name is Elizabeth Foreman. I live and teach in Georgia.

Teaching is my second career. This is my 10^th year in education. I have spent all 10 years at the same school, Bob Mathis Elementary in Decatur, GA. My school is in the Atlanta metro area however the area started out as rural farmlands. I currently work as the K-5 ESOL/Gifted teacher but I have taught 4th, 3^rd and 2^nd grades previously.

I love Social Studies, history and discovering primary documents for my students. For me, the best moment of teaching is  when a student has an aha moment about something they didn’t know before and now understand.

I was intrigued by the Rural Experience program. It seemed to be about an area that I had little experience with living in a big city. However, I know living in Georgia that rural spaces are included in its history. I wanted to focus on the second grade about Jimmy Carter and how his rural upbringing influenced his life. However, my project became two different projects for grades K-2 and 3-5 because I wanted to reach my upper grade students as well. Therefore, I am currently working on the project Decatur Now and Then which focuses on the rural aspects of Decatur especially around Bob Mathis Elementary. It used to be on dairy farmland and now is an urban space. My students are discovering why and how this space changed over time. I have had public sponsors like Dekalb History Center and Jimmy Carter National Historical site help with these ideas.  The Georgia Archives is also providing visuals for the projects.

We hope to display our project at our school and then maybe other spaces too.

The biggest takeaway from the Rural Experience program has been working with Library of Congress and how to use primary sources as well as the Right Question Institute. The RQI taught me to engage with students by having them generate different questions on their own. Then we refine those questions together.

Jean Hill is an Instructional Facilitator at Helen Tyson Middle School in Springdale, AR. She specializes in supporting teachers and students in the areas of English language arts, social studies, and related areas.

She is currently working with students and community partners on the Transformational Leaders of a Growing Region project to ensure that diverse voices are included and amplified in the history of her region of northwest Arkansas.

She looks forward to developing continuing partnerships and pathways for students to engage in the public history projects as she collaborates with the year two cohort of the NCHE’s Rural Experience in America colloquia.

My name is Bethany Norris and after spending my childhood as an Air Force brat living in various places around the world I graduated from the University of Georgia and started my career teaching in rural Georgia. My childhood helped fuel a love for history, and I have taught social studies since 2005. I currently teach my dream job of U.S. history to 11^th grade students. This year, I am thrilled to be incorporating a public history project in my class that will help to instill in my students an appreciation for their local community through oral history.

When I am not teaching, I love traveling and spending time with my husband and kids; my oldest has graduated from college, my middle daughter is in college in DC, my youngest daughter is in high school, and my son is in middle school.

Sarah has 21 years of teaching experience and has been at her current school for 11 years.  Her school is a rural-fringe school district with a large native population (47%).  Sarah also grew up in this area of Oklahoma and is very passionate about how rural life is represented in children’s and young adult literature, textbooks, and other educational materials.

She is currently a graduate student in the ILAC (Instructional Leadership and Curriculum) Social Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma.

On a personal note, she has four daughters and four grandchildren, and her husband is a history teacher and football coach in the same district.

Stacy Radecki is a 4th year teacher at Ogemaw Heights High School in West Branch, Michigan. Stacy teaches World and US History at a rural farming community school system. She wanted to work on a project that incorporated more than the history of our area, she wanted to look at the local history from many different perspectives. Working with the STEM department, she was able to use the school’s drone to make a different connection with the local farmers who participated in the project. Learning how technology can be used in many aspects of agriculture was an eye opener for everyone. Stacy was excited to work with the local community and her students to give her students a better understanding of the community they live and grow in.

Kim Sergent is in her thirty-fifth year in public education, currently serving as the Social Studies Instructional Specialist for the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative in Southeastern Kentucky. In her twenty-seven years in the classroom, she taught APUSH, AP World, Sociology, and almost every elective in between from Kentucky Studies to Human Rights in History, recieving the “A Teacher who made a Difference” award from the University of Kentucky College of Education in 2008 and is a recent recipient of the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies Meece Award for Achievement in the Social Studies. In 2015, she joined the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative to serve as the Instructional Specialist, working with professional learning networks and cadres focused on disciplinary literacy and inquiry-based learning. In 2021, she and a regional team presented their Inquiry through Place-based Education/Project-based Learning collaboration at the Appalachian Studies Association and the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conferences. This project demonstrated how local history can serve as the platform to introduce students to the Social Studies disciplines while connecting their community’s story to the  national narrative. Her work now focuses on mentoring and coaching teachers within the twenty-five KVEC districts as they implement our Social Studies standards. Creating spaces and opportunities for teachers to grow in this instructional shift is at the center of her work. This work has been some of the most challenging – and equally rewarding – of her career, and she is grateful for the opportunity. Kim lives in Mayking, Kentucky, with her husband, Jeff, an English teacher, and her daughter, Arwen, an MSU Freshman, majoring in Public History.

Rebecca Simmons is a middle grades teacher at an alternative school in rural western North Carolina. She wanted to be a teacher from a young age and finally achieved that goal in 2008. Due to having graduated from an alternative school setting, she determined that she wanted to help students with similar struggles.

History has always fascinated me. I enjoy the stories of those who were before us, and how their experiences and decisions have led to our experiences today. I have been a public school educator for 13 years, within the Greenon Local School District. It is extremely important to me to continue growing and learning in my practice of instructing and guiding students. This had pushed me to pursue offering both AP and College Credit Plus courses, in addition to traditional American history courses. My educational background includes an BA in History and Education from Wittenberg University in 2004, MA in Secondary Education from Grand Canyon University in 2012, MA in American History from Grand Canyon University in 2019. In 2022 I was the recipient of a Larry K. Zerkle Excellence in Education Award. American history education is my passion. I enjoy helping students explore and engage with history through questioning, primary sources, and projects.

A couple of years ago, a friend gave me the title Black Folks Education Ambassador, and since that reveal, I have embraced that moniker. This school year, I am starting my 19th year in education and am currently a Social Studies/History Teacher at Rockingham Early College High School for Rockingham County Schools. Always feeling that the ability to serve as an utmost responsibility, I have actively contributed to community activism, non-profit organizations, and political spaces since graduating from Catawba College in 1986. Receiving a BA in Political Science Pre-Law and a minor in Speech from Catawba in 2009 would receive a MA in Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. A year later, I would complete a Post Baccalaureate Certification in African American Studies, also from UNCG. In 2016, I would receive a certificate for Non-Degree Academically/Intellectually Gifted Licensure Add-On Program from Duke University.

I currently serve on the Dan River Basin Association boards, Help Incorporated Center Against Violence, Piedmont Blues Preservation Society, and Historic Stagville Foundation. In 2023 I was elected to the North Carolina National Council for the Social Studies Board of Directors and a member of the  National Council for Social Studies, where I serve on the Carter G. Book Committee.

In 2022, I received the James Arthur Griggs Civil Rights Memorial Award from the Rockingham County Branch of the NAACP. I received the Outstanding Teacher of North Carolina History Award from the Historical Society of North Carolina. Because of my extensive work with the Museum and Archives of Rockingham County (MARC), where I serve on the Planning Committee, I am also the Director of the Griggs Project, which is the historical research and programs around the United States Supreme Court case of Griggs vs. Duke Power Company (1971). This year, I am completing Year 2 of The Rural Experience in America, sponsored by the National Council of History Education. I am a member and serve on the Teachers’ Advisory Council.

I also hold membership in the Rockingham County Reading Association, Professional Educators of North Carolina (PENC), and the American Federation of Teachers.

I am the mother of 3 adult daughters, my son-in-law, and 4 grandchildren, with # 5 due any day now.

Joe Brewer is a social science and history teacher at Cuba High School where he also directs the school’s Forgottonia Project.  Joe received a degree in Social Science Education from Olivet Nazarene University and an MA in sociology from Western Illinois University.  He resides in Cuba, Illinois and enjoys reading, coaching, wrestling with his dogs, and spending time with his wife and stepsons.

Hi. My name is Elizabeth Foreman. I live and teach in Georgia.

Teaching is my second career. This is my 10^th year in education. I have spent all 10 years at the same school, Bob Mathis Elementary in Decatur, GA. My school is in the Atlanta metro area however the area started out as rural farmlands. I currently work as the

K-5 ESOL/Gifted teacher but I have taught 4th, 3^rd and 2^nd grades previously.

I love Social Studies, history and discovering primary documents for my students. For me, the best moment of teaching is  when a student has an aha moment about something they didn’t know before and now understand.

I was intrigued by the Rural Experience program. It seemed to be about an area that I had little experience with living in a big city. However, I know living in Georgia that rural spaces are included in its history. I wanted to focus on the second grade about Jimmy Carter and how his rural upbringing influenced his life. However, my project became two different projects for grades K-2 and 3-5 because I wanted to reach my upper grade students as well. Therefore, I am currently working on the project Decatur Now and Then which focuses on the rural aspects of Decatur especially around Bob Mathis Elementary. It used to be on dairy farmland and now is an urban space. My students are discovering why and how this space changed over time. I have had public sponsors like Dekalb History Center and Jimmy Carter National Historical site help with these ideas.  The Georgia Archives is also providing visuals for the projects.

We hope to display our project at our school and then maybe other spaces too.

The biggest takeaway from the Rural Experience program has been working with Library of Congress and how to use primary sources as well as the Right Question Institute. The RQI taught me to engage with students by having them generate different questions on their own. Then we refine those questions together.

Jean Hill is an Instructional Facilitator at Helen Tyson Middle School in Springdale, AR. She specializes in supporting teachers and students in the areas of English language arts, social studies, and related areas.

She is currently working with students and community partners on the Transformational Leaders of a Growing Region project to ensure that diverse voices are included and amplified in the history of her region of northwest Arkansas.

She looks forward to developing continuing partnerships and pathways for students to engage in the public history projects as she collaborates with the year two cohort of the NCHE’s Rural Experience in America colloquia.

Doug Logan teaches Social Studies at Carl Junction High School (Carl Junction, MO) and is a dual credit instructor of History for Crowder College and Missouri Southern State University.  He has taught at the elementary, middle school, high school, and college levels.  A native Hoosier, Doug grew up in South Georgia.  He graduated from Brewton-Parker College with a B.S. in Social Science Ed. and earned an M.A. in American History from Pittsburg State University.  Doug was a state finalist for Missouri Teacher of the Year in 2010 and a state finalist for Kentucky Teacher of the Year in 2017.  Named as Kentucky History Teacher of the Year in 2019, he was a national finalist for Gilder-Lehrman’s National History Teacher of the Year.  In 2014, the national society of the Sons of the American Revolution named Doug as its American History Teacher of the Year.

My name is Bethany Norris and after spending my childhood as an Air Force brat living in various places around the world I graduated from the University of Georgia and started my career teaching in rural Georgia. My childhood helped fuel a love for history, and I have taught social studies since 2005. I currently teach my dream job of U.S. history to 11^th grade students. This year, I am thrilled to be incorporating a public history project in my class that will help to instill in my students an appreciation for their local community through oral history.

When I am not teaching, I love traveling and spending time with my husband and kids; my oldest has graduated from college, my middle daughter is in college in DC, my youngest daughter is in high school, and my son is in middle school.

Sarah has 21 years of teaching experience and has been at her current school for 11 years.  Her school is a rural-fringe school district with a large native population (47%).  Sarah also grew up in this area of Oklahoma and is very passionate about how rural life is represented in children’s and young adult literature, textbooks, and other educational materials.

She is currently a graduate student in the ILAC (Instructional Leadership and Curriculum) Social Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma.

On a personal note, she has four daughters and four grandchildren, and her husband is a history teacher and football coach in the same district.

Stacy Radecki is a 4th year teacher at Ogemaw Heights High School in West Branch, Michigan. Stacy teaches World and US History at a rural farming community school system. She wanted to work on a project that incorporated more than the history of our area, she wanted to look at the local history from many different perspectives. Working with the STEM department, she was able to use the school’s drone to make a different connection with the local farmers who participated in the project. Learning how technology can be used in many aspects of agriculture was an eye opener for everyone. Stacy was excited to work with the local community and her students to give her students a better understanding of the community they live and grow in.

Kim Sergent is in her thirty-fifth year in public education, currently serving as the Social Studies Instructional Specialist for the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative in Southeastern Kentucky. In her twenty-seven years in the classroom, she taught APUSH, AP World, Sociology, and almost every elective in between from Kentucky Studies to Human Rights in History, recieving the “A Teacher who made a Difference” award from the University of Kentucky College of Education in 2008 and is a recent recipient of the Kentucky Council for the Social Studies Meece Award for Achievement in the Social Studies. In 2015, she joined the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative to serve as the Instructional Specialist, working with professional learning networks and cadres focused on disciplinary literacy and inquiry-based learning. In 2021, she and a regional team presented their Inquiry through Place-based Education/Project-based Learning collaboration at the Appalachian Studies Association and the National Forum to Advance Rural Education conferences. This project demonstrated how local history can serve as the platform to introduce students to the Social Studies disciplines while connecting their community’s story to the  national narrative. Her work now focuses on mentoring and coaching teachers within the twenty-five KVEC districts as they implement our Social Studies standards. Creating spaces and opportunities for teachers to grow in this instructional shift is at the center of her work. This work has been some of the most challenging – and equally rewarding – of her career, and she is grateful for the opportunity. Kim lives in Mayking, Kentucky, with her husband, Jeff, an English teacher, and her daughter, Arwen, an MSU Freshman, majoring in Public History.

Rebecca Simmons is a middle grades teacher at an alternative school in rural western North Carolina. She wanted to be a teacher from a young age and finally achieved that goal in 2008. Due to having graduated from an alternative school setting, she determined that she wanted to help students with similar struggles.