GO LEAD provides a series of workshops designed to address specific training and professional development issues related to non-profit management.

The scholarships are available  for one of these two workshop series:

• The Nuts & Bolts of Non-Profit Management; or
• Non-Profit Management in the 21st Century

Applications can be submitted online and the application deadline is 5 p.m., Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010.

The program is open to any non-profit leader or manager of an organization that partners with the Community Foundation.

For questions or more information, e-mail Julie Leeth, Executive Vice President, or call (417) 864-6199.

John White, U.S. Department of Education deputy assistant secretary for rural outreach, speaks at the Rural Schools Partnership conference in Thomasville.

To hear more about the conference, listen to KSMU’s report.

The newly christened Ozarks Teacher Corps is an innovative partnership that will be worth watching to see if it can be replicated in other rural areas, said John White, a U.S. Department of Education leader who attended the annual Rural Schools Partnership conference Thursday in Thomasville, Mo.

White, the Department’s deputy assistant secretary for rural outreach, joined more than 120 rural educators and students in the tiny Oregon County community for a day of celebrating new projects and learning more about the principles of placed-based education that define the Rural Schools Partnership.

The inaugural class of the Ozarks Teacher Corps includes 18 students from Drury University, Ozarks Technical Community College and Missouri State University’s campuses in Springfield and West Plains, who will receive annual $4,000 scholarships in return for a commitment to spend at least three years teaching in a rural school after graduation. This program is made possible by the Chesley and Flora Lea Wallis Scholarship Fund, a $1.7 million Community Foundation of the Ozarks’ charitable fund.

White said he came to the Ozarks to see this new program in hopes that it can create a model to help fill critical teacher shortages in rural communities across the country.

“One of the things we want to do from Washington is figure out what from a policy level will be most applicable and work at a local level,” White said, citing programs such as using Skype technology for distance learning and installing technology on school busses for learning during long daily commutes.  “We want to provide support in different ways instead of a one-size-fits-all approach.”

He said the U.S. Department of Education is advocating for more discretionary uses for federal education dollars instead of strictly formula-based funding to schools.

“We can use that to identify programs that are unique, innovative and that work and then invest in them so they can be replicated,” he said.

He also said the Department has made a conscious decision to focus on the philanthropic sector through programs such as the Investing in Innovation Fund grants, an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act initiative to encourage partnerships between school districts and nonprofits such as foundations.

“We know rural philanthropy is alive and well and we’re going to try to set the stage to help more rural schools and communities invest in and rebuild themselves,” White said.

Gary Funk, president of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, which sponsors the Rural Schools Partnership and hosted the Thomasville conference, said he appreciated White’s remarks about the role philanthropy is playing in rural-education needs.

“We have to think of thoughtful ways for how we as a society and we as communities keep these schools open,” Funk said. “We’re going to have to look at public-private partnerships. We know we have the resources in this country to merge philanthropy, partnerships and economic development and do a better job.”

During an afternoon workshop with the Ozarks Teacher Corps’ students at picnic tables along the bank of the Eleven Point National Scenic River, White asked for their ideas on how the federal government can help improve rural schools. Their recommendations included reducing the emphasis on “teaching for tests” in the upcoming reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act; supporting networking groups like the Future Teachers Association; encouraging flexible schedules for non-traditional students; and offering stipends for national board certifications.

“A generation of kids is looking to make the profession more noble,” said Mykie Nash, of Nixa, who is studying elementary education at OTC and MSU.

Melissa Payne, a Drury University elementary education major from Sparta, articulated why many of the students are interested in returning to their rural communities:  “Teachers were always a big part of our lives whether at school functions or at something like the rodeo. I think what made me want to be a teacher was how they treated us as students.”

White reiterated after the workshop that he plans to take back to Washington the seeds of the fledgling Teacher Corps program to plant in other rural communities.

“What’s unique is it’s specifically intended to create the next generation of teachers, which is critically needed,” he said.  “It’s encouraging to see they are all on the same wavelength about how to elevate the profession.”

The inaugural class of the Ozarks’ Teachers Corps includes:

• Class of 2012: Kathy Bradshaw (Norwood) Drury, Secondary English; Rachel Buck (Monett) OTC/Drury, Elementary Education; Derik Collins (Dora) MSU-West Plains, Secondary Business; Rachel Dean (Hurley) MSU, Middle School Math/Science; Chelsea Fox (Dora) MSU-West Plains, Elementary Education; Rhiannon Hadley (Birch Tree) MSU-West Plains, Elementary Education; Nicole Matney (Willard) OTC/MSU, Secondary Mathematics; and Mykie Nash (Nixa) OTC/MSU, Elementary Education

• Class of 2011: Lauryn Albrecht (Republic) Drury, Elementary Education; Albert Bryant (Everton) Drury, Secondary Mathematics; Lucas England (Koshkonong) MSU-West Plains, Secondary Social Studies; Suzanne Feldman (Buffalo) Drury, Secondary Mathematics; Jessica Joiner (Lebanon) Drury, Elementary Education; Morgan Mais (Marionville) Drury, Elementary Education; Lita Meeks (Monett) MSU, Elementary Education; Whitney Packwood (Billings) Drury, Elementary Education; Melissa Payne (Sparta) Drury, Elementary Education; and Glenda Wahlert (Cassville) MSU, Elementary Education

The Olin J. Brattin Scholarship Fund awards scholarships to one student from Cassville, Wheaton and the McDonald R-I school district, for a total of three scholarships, based on financial need, character and scholastic ability and achievement. The McDonald R-I student must be a resident of the Rocky Comfort community in McDonald County, MO. For information about the scholarship, please visit the scholarship section of our website.

The Olin J. Brattin Scholarship was established by Mr. Brattin’s children – Jim Brattin of Harrison, AR and Sherry Wiseman of El Dorado Springs, MO – in memory of their father. Mr. Brattin’s children made a real estate gift with their late father’s home and the inventory from his electrical supply business to create the scholarship.

Pictured above: Representatives from the Cassville Community Foundation and CFO with Jim Brattin and Sherry Wiseman in front of Olin Brattin’s home, left to right: Winter Skelton, CFO; Amy White & Landon Fletcher, Cassville Community Foundation; Jim Brattin; Sherry Wiseman; Susie Jacobs, Cassville Community Foundation; and Gary Funk, CFO.

Olin J. Brattin began his electrical supply company in 1972. He sold supplies to any area he could drive to in a day’s time from his Cassville home and still be with his family in the evening. Mr. Brattin operated his business from a converted Ryder truck until he moved his home and business to Highway Y just north of the Cassville High School in 1975. He often called Olin J. Brattin Electrical Supply the “world’s smallest company” and continued to operate it from his home until his recent passing at the age of 89.

The Community Foundation of the Ozarks and its 40 affiliate foundation manage almost 200 individual scholarship funds totaling more than $12.8 million in assets that assist young people from across the Ozarks in the pursuit of higher education. It’s an important means through which CFO and the many generous donors across the region give something back to their communities. For the 2008-2009 academic year, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks awarded $482,056 in scholarships representing 348 individual scholarships, including renewals. CFO’s scholarship program has a significant impact on colleges and universities located in the region; you can learn more here.

• For information about CFO scholarships, including application information and an interactive database, visit our scholarship program page.
• For other news about scholarships managed by CFO and our network of affiliates, visit this section of our web site.

Pictured above: (left to right) Lori Smith, Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri (CFSM) board chair, Dalton Loveland, and Michelle Ducre, CFSM executive director.

Mr. Curt Carter, a childhood resident of Carthage, MO, established the Curtis Rex Carter Science Scholarship Fund with the Community Foundation of Southwest Missouri, Inc. in November 2006 to honor his father and benefit students interested in the applied sciences from Jasper County. This was the third year that the scholarship was awarded.

To finance this new scholarship fund, Carter used the IRA Charitable Rollover provision of the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The IRA Charitable Rollover allows individuals over the age of 70 ½ to rollover up to $100,000 from their IRA directly to a qualifying charity without recognizing the assets transferred to the qualifying charity as income. The provision was extended by Congress through the end of 2009.

For the 2008-2009 academic year, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks awarded $482,056 in scholarships – much of that total helping students attending regional schools – representing 348 individual scholarships, including renewals, from almost 200 scholarship funds. The Foundation currently manages more than $12.8 million in assets dedicated to scholarships.

Besides helping students get to college, the Foundation’s scholarship program has a significant impact on colleges and universities located in the region. The totals listed below reflect the number of students attending the school with one or more CFO-managed scholarship along with the total amount of scholarship money distributed to the school through the Foundation’s scholarship program. All numbers are for the 2008-2009 academic year.

In addition to the schools listed above, CFO scholarships are benefiting students at almost all of Missouri’s public and private schools as well as universities throughout the nation.

Students applying for scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year will have a new resource at their disposal. Recently, CFO added a centralized, interactive database that allows students and counselors to easily peruse the many scholarships managed by CFO. Users can view lists of scholarships specific to their high school or defined categories such as medical/nursing and scholarships for current college students. Each listing also includes application information or downloadable applications for several scholarships, included those selected by the CFO scholarships committee.

Access to the scholarship database as well as activation and renewal information can be found on the scholarship section of our web site. The site also includes a link to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), required for most CFO scholarships.

The difficult economic times are a reminder of just how important education is for individuals and the future of our communities. Community Foundation of the Ozarks is pleased to work with private donors and numerous organizations to offer scholarship opportunities to young people from across the Ozarks who will be a key part of sustaining and building upon our quality of life.

For the 2008-2009 academic year, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and its 40 affiliate foundations awarded $482,056 in scholarships representing 348 individual scholarships, including renewals, from almost 200 scholarship funds. The Foundation currently manages more than $12.8 million in assets dedicated to scholarships.

CFO’s web site now features a centralized, interactive database that allows students and counselors to easily peruse the many scholarships managed by CFO and its affiliates. Users can view lists of scholarships specific to their high school or defined categories such as medical/nursing and scholarships for current college students. Each listing also includes application information or downloadable applications for several scholarships, included those selected by the CFO scholarships committee.

Access to the scholarship database as well as activation and renewal information can be found here. The site also includes a link to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), required for most CFO scholarships.

Check it out here.

The annual event is an important opportunity to honor the hard work and dedication of area students as well as the many donors whose generosity has helped these leaders of tomorrow take the next step toward their lofty goals. Our wide-reaching scholarship programs continue to be an important means of giving something back to the community by affording young people the opportunity to pursue a higher education.

This year, Community Foundation of the Ozarks will award more than $565,000 in scholarships to 340 students from approximately 200 scholarship funds administered by CFO and its 40 regional affiliate foundations. This includes renewals for two and four year scholarships. CFO manages more than $14 million in assets devoted to scholarships.