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On Wednesday, August 19 at 2:00 p.m. the Community Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO) will officially launch the Rural Schools Partnership. CFO will present an overview of the Rural Schools Partnership and recognize businesses and organizations partnering with CFO to make the program possible. KSMU's Mike Smith has more about the initiative with this edition of Making a Difference Where You Live.

For this feature, Mike Smith talks with CFO President Gary Funk. NEWS RELEASE
Community Foundation of the Ozarks

Date: August 14, 2009

Schools play a critical role in the well-being of small communities and towns that serve as rural hubs, providing a focal point of activity, a sense of civic pride, and a reason for families to make their homes in these communities. Rural education is a linchpin issue for rural economic development.

Recognizing the overarching importance of schools to rural development, CFO’s board of directors has launched the Rural Schools Partnership, a comprehensive program to strengthen small school districts. The program resulted from a year-long planning process involving CFO’s regional committee, regional school leaders, affiliated foundation leadership, donors, and business people. The Rural Schools Partnership embraces three consensus-based strategies for strengthening rural schools:

• Develop alternative resources
• Promote collaborations and partnerships
• Support place-based education strategies

Program features include:

• The Harry Cooper Supply Company Campaign for the Ozarks Phase II, $250,000 in challenge grants for educational endowment building. Twenty-five school districts and community foundations will have an opportunity to raise $20,000 for academic-oriented endowments and receive a $10,000 match through this effort.
• Providing professional development support for teachers and administrators through the Rural School and Community Trust’s Rural Schools Innovation Network.
• The Louis L. and Julia Dorothy Coover Charitable Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program of Commerce Trust will provide $150,000 per year in grantmaking support for cooperative ventures that enhance teaching and learning through innovative place-based education programs.
• The Conco Community Arts Program will provide $10,000 for 8-12 student-led community arts projects.
• The Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation and CFO’s Stewardship Ozarks Initiative will provide $10,000 for student-led conservation projects.
• The Springfield Regional Arts Council will facilitate arts in the schools through the existing Greater Ozarks Arts Tour (GOAT) and Ozark Plateau Initiative programs.

Our hope is that the Rural Schools Partnership and its various programs will increase philanthropic support for rural education, encourage purposeful collaboration, and strengthen the bonds between school and community throughout the Ozarks.

Community Foundation of the Ozarks supports asset development, community-based grant making, organizational collaboration, and leadership initiatives throughout southern Missouri. CFO currently has $130 million in charitable assets, 41 affiliated community foundations, and 315 agency partners. In the 2009 fiscal year, CFO distributed $15.6 million in grants, including more than $6 million in targeted rural grantmaking. In addition, $3.8 million of the overall grants total went to education-related efforts.

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Community Foundation of the Ozarks
425 E. Trafficway
Springfield, MO
(417) 864-6199
Fax (417) 864-8344

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