SOUTH DAKOTA: SDSU Researchers Working to Fill Educational Gaps for Rural Students with $1.2M USDA NIFA grant
In the US, roughly one-sixth of all K-12 students attend rural school districts. These students face many challenges and are often hampered by both a lack of funding and resources. Two South Dakota State University researchers have begun working to help “fill in the gaps” that rural students might be missing in their education. Amber Letcher and Kristine Ramsay-Seaner were awarded a five-year, $1.2 million USDA NIFA grant from the Children, Youth and Families at Risk program.
“The program is really aimed at getting resources to communities that are underserved, under-resourced in our part of the country,” Letcher said. “It's really about rural youth and so all of our programming really focuses on rural communities, families and even professionals.”
The overarching youth life readiness programming has spawned multiple projects including Careers in a Box and LaunchSkills—both aimed at providing rural youth the resources they need as well as providing youth service professionals with resources to support the learning environment.
“I think the unique thing about this project is that it's really multitiered,” Letcher said. “It’s not just the kids, but also those who are serving the kids get some assistance.”