-Via Washington County Enterprise Leader
LITTLE ROCK — Two Farmington schools, along with 18 others in the state, have been selected by Forward Arkansas to participate in the first LeARner Collective cohort, giving teams of teachers, principals, and other school employees an opportunity to develop solutions to specific needs and challenges.
Jerry "Pop" Williams Elementary and Randall G. Lynch Middle School in Farmington will be in the first cohort with schools from Bentonville, Gentry, Rogers, and Pea Ridge in Northwest Arkansas. The other participating schools are in the Delta region of the state.
The LeARner Collective, supported by the Walton Family Foundation, begins in January. According to the Forward Arkansas website, the first cycle will focus on creating conditions for literacy success. Over the course of six months, teams from the 20 participating schools will explore ideas and solutions to improve structures, routines, and practices around literacy as they work to answer the question: "How might we create the conditions for literacy improvement and sustain literacy learning for all students?”
"Educators are problem solvers and innovators by nature; we want to build on that,” said Ben Kutylo, executive director of Forward Arkansas. Through this program, we will empower local school teams to reflect on the challenges their students face and determine better ways to address those challenges.”
Participating schools will receive a $5,000 grant to support their work through the program and the grant can be used for costs such as stipends, substitute teachers, travel, and supplies.