Monument’s Michelle Engle named a Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellow
By Logan Bagett on Friday, December 9th, 2022 in Eastern/Southeast Oregon News More Top Stories
MONUMENT – Michelle Engle has been named a Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellow for 2023 by Eastern Oregon University, for Rural School Collaborative. Find a press release below from Rural Schools Collaborative:
(Press release from Rural Schools Collaborative)
Rural Schools Collaborative is excited to announce the 2022-23 Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellow Awardees. This grant is extended to rural classroom teachers who teach in school districts that are located in one of the Rural Schools Collaborative’s 14 Regional Hub areas.
The 2023 Fellows will each work with their students on place-based education projects within their school’s community. Each Celia B. Godsil Grants in Place Fellow is awarded a grant which will support the place-based project, shares a professional development presentation, and receives an honorarium for the educator. The Grants in Place program is funded through the generous support from Celia and Mark Godsil in honor of Celia’s career as a public school teacher and their belief in the importance of classroom teachers to rural communities. Learn more about the program here!
Pacific Northwest: Michele Engle
“Cemetery Tombstone Rescue”
Michele Engle is the 7th-12th grade language art teacher in the mornings. In the afternoon, she is the CTE teacher who teaches two mixed periods of Ag welding, Ag construction, and Ag leadership, and another period of middle school science which also oversees the school greenhouse in the afternoons at Monument School District. She has taught at this small rural school district for 28 years. She earned her teaching degree from Eastern Oregon University in 1992.
Michele’s family has deep roots in the Monument Community: her mother graduated from Monument School as did she and her own children. The success of the children in this community are very important to her which is the reason why her teaching has been malleable around the needs and interests of her students.
Michele was awarded Outstanding Classroom Teacher for Region 5 in 2009 by the Oregon Science Teachers Association and awarded Oregon’s regional Teacher of the Year 2018-19. Michele’s educational philosophy: She believes that it is very important to help students find the joy in learning new things and the understanding that they can and will accomplish great things with hard work and determination.
As a Fellow, Michele’s “Cemetery Tombstone Rescue Project” is focused on utilizing leadership skills within the community to build strong community partnerships, while saving the “sinking” tombstones at our three local cemeteries. Students will research the best way to reset the existing headstone; in so doing, students will be working closely with our Cemetery Board and families to implement the updates needed on the headstones listed on the “rescue” list. This project is something that the Leadership students have wanted to work on but funding is an issue in this very small rural area of Eastern Oregon. The focus in leadership class is to give back to the surrounding community that is very supportive to the school. This type of community service helps students develop pride in themselves, their school, and their community, while preparing students to be active citizens and effective leaders in the future.
Since 2015 the Rural Schools Collaborative and its partners have awarded more than $500,000 to rural classroom teachers in support of innovative place-based projects. We invite you to check out our roster of Grants in Place projects:
Learn about more ways to get involved with the Rural Schools Collaborative community or contact us today at info@ruralschoolscollaborative.org with questions about this year’s Grants in Place effort.
