The numbers suggest making a living off the land is increasingly less appealing to young people
Author to share findings on how to keep small towns alive
What: Discussion on education reform for rural towns
Where: Jones Regional Education Center, located on Welter Drive, at the south exit of the Hwy. 151 Bypass around Monticello.
When: Friday, October 7, 10 a.m.-2:15 p.m.
Who: State educators, politicians, Department of Education officials and author Patrick Carr
Patrick Carr, who coauthored the book, Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What it Means for America, will discuss findings of his research on what is causing small towns to lose young people. Carr and his coauthor moved to Iowa to understand the rural brain drain and the exodus of young people from America’s countryside. In the most recent addition of the book, Carr has included an afterword that highlights the Jones Regional Education Center as a positive example of how to respond to the challenges he presents in his book.
What surprised Carr and coauthor Maria J. Kefalas most was that adults in the community were playing a pivotal part in the town’s decline by pushing the best and brightest young people to leave, and by under investing in those who choose to stay—even though these young people are their best chance for a future, according to the book.
In the fall of 2009, Kirkwood Community College opened the Jones Regional Education Center (JREC) in Monticello. It represents an innovative and collaborative approach to providing high quality educational opportunities to secondary students in rural Iowa consisting of a partnership of eight K-12 school districts in five counties, Kirkwood Community College and other community partners. During the 2011 fiscal year, 240 high school students benefited from the college level programs and support services delivered at the Jones Regional Education Center.