For more information:
Deanna Townsend-Smith
Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity
919-781-6833 x114
Raleigh, NC (June 20, 2024) — Last year, the Public School Forum of North Carolina convened the second cohort of the Rural Teacher Leadership Network, which is designed to bring together diverse groups of educators across North Carolina who seek to strengthen their practice, foster community with teacher leaders from across other rural districts, and develop their leadership capacity to guide other teachers in their schools. The network creates a strong and lasting community of rural educators with a focus on equity, trauma-informed practice, policy, advocacy, and teacher leadership.
Under the programmatic leadership of the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity (Flood Center), a third cohort in Eastern North Carolina will be convened during the 2024-25 school year, consisting of 37 teachers in 12 counties. “Every student benefits when teachers are provided opportunities to continue to grow their craft. With districts not receiving the necessary funding to always provide opportunities for professional growth, these sessions provide educators with robust and continuous learning in a cohort model to develop an equity and trauma-informed lens to guide their advocacy efforts, strengthen their leadership skills, and build the capacity of other educators to ultimately benefit every student,” said Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith the Flood Center’s Senior Director. “With the expansion to additional counties in the east this year, we were able to extend the offering to other counties across the state.”
“We will continue the alumni support for the previous cohorts and continue the Rural Teacher Leader Network post this third cohort as allowed by current grant funding as there is a clear need and demand for the program.” Providing these opportunities for educators helps provide support, allowing them to engage with their peers in intentional ways and providing safe spaces for authentic conversations and experiences to transform professional practices.
The RTLN was made possible through a generous grant made by the Anonymous Trust, and will initially support this inaugural cohort that comprises educators from Wayne, Duplin, Greene, Lenoir, Onslow, Jones, Robeson, Columbus, Scotland, Hoke, Bladen, Cumberland, and Sampson County.
More than forty educators applied for participation in RTLN; participants were admitted through a rigorous selection process. We would like to congratulate this year’s cohort members, who are listed below.
2024-2024 Rural Teacher Leader Network
To learn more about the Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity and to see a list of events and resources please visit https://floodcenter.org/ and join us in the fight for equity, access, and opportunity in education.
For media inquiries, please contact Deanna Townsend-Smith at 919-781-6833 x114 or dtownsend-smith@ncforum.org.
About the Public School Forum of North Carolina
Since 1986, the Public School Forum of North Carolina has been an indispensable and nonpartisan champion of better schools and the most trusted source in the state for research and analysis on vital education issues. We bring together leaders from business, education and government to study education issues, develop ideas, seek consensus, and ultimately inform and shape education policy. We do that through research, policy work, innovative programs, advocacy, and continuing education for educators and policymakers. Follow the Forum on Twitter @theNCForum and visit our website at http://www.ncforum.org/.
About the Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity
Launched in 2020, The Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity and Opportunity (Flood Center) serves as a hub to identify and connect organizations, networks, and leaders to address issues of equity, access, and opportunity in education across North Carolina. The Flood Center informs discussions on policies impacting equity & social justice, supporting and advancing equity-focused educator programming, and promotes discussions around how schools are funded at the local and state levels, to achieve equity, access, and opportunity for every young person in North Carolina. Follow the Flood Center on Twitter @DudleyFlloodCtr and visit our website at https://floodcenter.org/.