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.

The team of Scott Noles, Jeremy Walker, Paul Shealy, and Wyatt Thomas (pictured above) took first place gross.

NEFEC will be hosting a “Rural Connect Summer Literacy Institute” on June 14-17 at Fort White High School. This four-day institute will include the following topics: Florida B.E.S.T. Standards, Foundational Skills of Literacy, Significant Sentences, and Text-Dependent Questions. Over 150 teachers from grades K-5 along with literacy coaches and administrators will attend this professional learning event.

School-based administrators will attend the Summer Literacy Institute sessions with teachers and meet together for implementation training at the conclusion of each day’s instruction.

The following NEFEC districts and schools will be in attendance.