How does an educator find support in a school so small that there might be few colleagues or administrators available to form a sense of community? This episode offers suggestions to overcome this challenge, common to many rural Oregon educators, with a conversation between our host Toni Myers and her guest Cindy Dougharity-Spencer, the teacher of History and Economics at the Grant Union Junior/Senior High School in John Day. Cindy assures rural educators in Oregon that they are not alone, even in small schools, because they have access to Regional Educator Networks (RENs).
Cindy works with the Eastern Oregon REN (EOREN), serving Harney, Grant, Malheur, Lake, and Wallowa Counties. EOREN reaches out to educators through common-interest teams, lesson plan banks, tutorials, and regularly scheduled professional development events. Especially useful for new educators in rural schools is the mentorship program in which an experienced educator offers support for each of these newer educators as they navigate the often unique experience of teaching in a small school in a small town. Both Cindy and Toni encourage listeners to contact their school’s REN to find their community. No teacher in Oregon should ever feel alone. As Cindy says, “You are not an island.”
Resources -
Find your Regional Educator Network
Eastern Oregon Regional Educator Network (EOREN)
Ayla Olson, the guest for last week’s Episode 3 of Season 12, works with the Oregon Trail Regional Educator Network (OTREN)
OEA Grow is a proud member of the Labor Radio Podcast Networ
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Death, Sex & Money
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.