The Foundation for Rural Education Excellence, a registered 501 (C)(3) organization, was founded in 1998 to facilitate philanthropic support for rural school districts of the North East Florida Educational Consortium (NEFEC): Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Dixie, Flagler, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Lafayette, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, Suwannee, and Union Counties as well as Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind and PK Yonge Developmental Research School. Working collaboratively, our mission is to enhance academic success and career opportunities for rural students in northeast Florida.

A four-day Summer Literacy Institute for 6-8^th grade educators was held at Union County High School during the last week of June. Educators from NEFEC districts attended content area sessions that focused on literacy strategies.

Teachers were asked to take on the role of students while experiencing high-quality lessons that included complex text. Secondary educators were shown how to embed foundational skills in lessons that included text-dependent tasks/questions. On day four, participants collaborated with other subject or grade-like teachers to create a planning guide using a text of their choice. Administrators attended sessions with their teachers but also had an afternoon session to allow them to plan ahead for a school-wide action plan.

All Institute participants will continue this professional learning by attending Rural Connect sessions during the upcoming school year. This allows educators to continue to participate in professional learning communities that deepen the learning through the year.

The conference kicked off with keynote speaker Malcolm Mitchell, former NFL New England Patriot and Super Bowl Champion. Malcolm has numerous awards both on and off the field, but considers discovering a love of reading his greatest achievement. He shared his journey as a struggling reader and how the perseverance of one teacher made the difference in his life. NEFEC arranged for that teacher, Holly Stone, to surprise Malcolm with her attendance (pictured below left). Malcolm was nearly overcome with joy.   

Over 80 NEFEC educators attended a two-day training on Progress Monitoring at the Saw Grass Marriott in Ponte Vedra. 

Each district sent teams of leaders to this professional learning event designed to train trainers. Reset, Reflect, and Refine were the topics on which the progress monitoring work was centered. Districts collaborated with one another on how to make progress monitoring a priority while implementing B.E.S.T. standards and rolling out the new F.A.S.T assessments. Time was spent exploring existing data, determining the value of data, and how data is used to determine future instruction. 

This was the beginning of a series of events that will take place throughout the 2022-2023 school year to support NEFEC districts.

Elementary educators from NEFEC districts came together on July 20^th at Union County High School for a Rural Connect Showcase.

Union County Superintendent, Mike Ripplinger opened the day by providing a motivating message to encourage educators to continue to make a positive difference in the lives of students.

Participants attended four breakout sessions to spotlight the work teachers, coaches, and teachers have been doing as a result of Rural Connect sessions. The excitement around the classroom connections was felt by all.

FREE's annual golf tournament is scheduled for March 24, 2023, at The Palatka Golf Club.