{"id":771,"date":"2020-10-19T12:40:55","date_gmt":"2020-10-19T16:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/?p=771"},"modified":"2020-10-26T12:22:17","modified_gmt":"2020-10-26T16:22:17","slug":"facing-negatives-positively","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/facing-negatives-positively\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Negatives Positively"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

UTC school of education lecturer and NREA Executive Director Allen Pratt informs about the importance of rural schools to their communities and battling COVID-19.<\/em> <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Allen Pratt stands in front of Hunter Hall Monday, July 20, 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While they might be small in size, schools are not small in stature in rural communities. Some of the tinier counties in Tennessee either touch or are within close proximity to Hamilton County, home to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, including Meigs (estimated population of 12,422), Sequatchie (15,026) and Bledsoe (15,064). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In comparison, when you combine UTC students, faculty and staff, you arrive at a figure of approximately 14,000 individuals, a population larger than 15 of the 95 counties in the state.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The essential roles rural schools play has been evident during COVID-19. \u201cWhat people don\u2019t understand about education in these communities is how important and how big a role the school has on the community,\u201d says Allen Pratt, a UTC guest lecturer and the executive director of the National Rural Education Association (NREA). The NREA national headquarters is housed in Hunter Hall on the UTC campus. \u201cSchools are the hubs of rural communities and rural areas not only in the sense of students being educated, but also for community meetings, for community programs, for school programs, for athletic events, for voting,\u201d he says. \u201cThe school is a big, big plus in the community, and it\u2019s a vital part that makes the community what it is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

NREA is the voice for education in rural areas and communities across the United States. The organization has members in all 50 states and five countries focused on providing support services across the entire rural education spectrum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 1994 graduate of UTC, Pratt has spent his entire career in education, and much of his experience has been in non-urban settings. Before joining the NREA, his resume included stints as a high school science teacher and coach, high school principal, assistant superintendent, executive director of the Tennessee Rural Education Association and executive director in the Tennessee Department of Education\u2019s East Tennessee regional field office of the Centers of Regional Excellence (CORE). His travels haven\u2019t been limited just to the state of Tennessee. Since taking over as the NREA executive director, Pratt has traveled to rural communities in 48 states, so he speaks from experience in addressing the many functions performed by teachers and staff members in these areas. \u201cA lot of students and families depend on the schools for a ton of support,\u201d he says. \u201cThat includes feeding programs and preventative healthcare services that the schools provide to students like eye or hearing exams. These smaller school systems have smaller staffs in the central office, and they\u2019re asked to do a lot of different things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pratt and the NREA have been in the news during 2020 for their advocacy in showcasing the internet connectivity divide. Before the pandemic, the gulf between access to the internet in urban vs. rural communities was already known. But the situation became exacerbated with many students in rural areas having little-to-no access to broadband after learning shifted to an online environment. \u201cWhile there haven\u2019t been any major breakthroughs yet, I would say the uptick of requests for information and the uptick of people wanting to know more about it is a positive,\u201d he says. \u201cWith students shifting from rural campuses to home locations, it put the spotlight on why connectivity is really a right and a service that should be provided. We should be connected across the country.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith students shifting from rural campuses to home locations, it put the spotlight on why connectivity is really a right and a service that should be provided. We should be connected across the country.\u201d <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Instead of dwelling on the negatives of what life has been in rural communities since the arrival of COVID-19\u2014including the death of a superintendent in Texas and economic hits to tourist-centric areas\u2014Pratt prefers to emphasize the positives. He talks about the many inspiring and innovative stories he has heard from his constituents about the ways rural schools are going above-and-beyond to provide help within their communities. And, conversely, the assistance communities are providing to their local schools. \u201cThere\u2019s a school system in Louisa County, Virginia, where they used these little metal trailers you can buy at Lowe\u2019s and created solar-powered Wi-Fi hotspots that they moved across the county,\u201d he says. \u201cThey built at least 20 of them and strategically placed them across the county. That\u2019s an innovative approach on how to get students connected so that they could download their assignments. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen you had these approaches in Texas involving the delivery of home meals. They realized that a lot of the students were home by themselves because the parents had to go to work. They didn\u2019t want children answering the door for just anyone, so they left coolers out front so the students would know the food was there. They made it safe for everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pratt praises the work being done locally in a couple of nearby counties to the Chattanooga area, Marion and Polk. In Marion County, a local electric co-op constructed hotspot areas, while the school system devised drive-by programs for food pickup and information packet distribution. Educators in Polk County worked with parents to phase in face-to-face classroom participation this fall at a more incremental rate compared to other Tennessee counties. \u201cIt\u2019s really amazing what these rural communities are doing,\u201d Pratt says. \u201cMoving forward, I think we\u2019ll be stronger in such communities, and we\u2019ll have a better educational system coming out of this as well.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UTC school of education lecturer and NREA Executive Director Allen Pratt informs about the importance of rural schools to their…\n","protected":false},"author":1493,"featured_media":1202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[101011,115505],"tags":[24370,101024],"coauthors":[100990],"class_list":{"0":"post-771","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cover","8":"category-fall-2020-edition","9":"tag-overflow","10":"tag-top","11":"cs-entry","12":"cs-video-wrap"},"yoast_head":"\nFacing Negatives Positively - 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