2026 Grants in Place Celebration of Learning

In early June, Rural Schools Collaborative, in partnership with Teton Science Schools, hosted the annual Grants in Place Celebration of Learning. This event featured virtual poster sessions with 30 Grants in Place awardees, as each shared project recaps with a diverse audience of RSC Regional Hub Network leads, district colleagues, and the wider RSC community. Over the course of two hours, the teachers displayed posters highlighting the innovative projects and programs they developed throughout the spring semester. 

The Grants in Place program is one of RSC’s signature projects, powered by a belief that given support rural educators can create transformative initiatives for their students, schools, and communities. Each year, RSC seeks to award at least one awardee within the general service area of each Regional Hub Network partner, strengthening ties between hub partners and local districts. The Grants in Place program is supported by a three-year grant provided by the Bezos Family Foundation. 

With the program supporting more teachers than ever before, this year’s Celebration of Learning debuted a new format better suited to a larger group of teachers. Whereas past celebrations featured sequential five-minute video presentations, this year’s celebration featured three rounds of virtual breakout rooms, with each teacher in an individual room as participants rotated between. This enabled more intimate presentation settings, where viewers could ask questions, engage in discussion, and discuss potential future directions the projects might take. 

Leslie Cook, Head of Professional Learning at Teton Science Schools and RSC Northern Rockies Hub lead, co-facilitated the event, in addition to providing professional development around Place-Based Education for participating educators during the spring. Leslie reflects that “This was the 6th year that Teton Science Schools has had the privilege of facilitating the Grants in Place Celebration of Learning with Rural Schools Collaborative.  This year's posters and Celebration of Learning showcased wonderful place-based projects that happened in rural communities across the USA.”

Like many who attended, Leslie was energized by hearing about the projects, and excited by the diversity of ideas presented by the awardees. “I wish that I could have talked with each Grants in Place awardee to hear about their project, and some of the highlights from those that I spoke with included - students in Utah growing native plants in partnership with their National Forest, the creation of the Voices of Appalachia stories podcast by students in rural Ohio, and students getting more involved in their state park in Indiana.  Students making connections with public lands near them and telling stories of their place are such meaningful and rich place-based projects!”

To learn more, you are encouraged to visit RSC’s Grants In Place Padlet page here. Each poster features pictures, summaries of the project, and a QR Code or link to a short video where each teacher shares a bit of additional details about their project. There are also several recent stories highlighting the projects of 2025-26 Grants in Place awardees, including Matt Beaty (IA), Pam Schneider (IL), Ruth Owusu-Ansah (IL), Chelsy Champlin (KS), Nathan Hensley (MO), Jennifer Buckler (OH), and Paula Tonn (WI).