Rural Thrive:

The Rural Educator Resilience Project

All rural educators deserve to thrive

A map of Maine showing connections between different communities.

Now recruiting Maine teachers and leaders!

Rural Thrive is a collection of statewide networks or communities of practice that support Maine’s rural public school educators at three key points in their careers:

  • Early Career (years 1-3)
  • Teacher Leaders (mid-career educators interested in exploring leadership opportunities for classroom teachers)
  • Building or School District Leadership

Rural Thrive is a project of the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development. It is funded with $3.3 million in Congressionally Directed Spending awarded to the University of Maine System to provide ongoing professional development, mentorship and other evidence-based support, with the goal of leading to better resilience and retention among rural educators and school leaders, as well as improving PK-12 student outcomes. The award was secured in Fiscal Year 2024 by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, and U.S. Sen. Angus King.

Interested in joining our community? Click the button below to contact team members and ask us how to get involved.

Join our community

What We Offer

Natalie McCarthy, a senior elementary education major at the University of Maine College of Education and Human Development, teaches a lesson about therapy dogs to a fourth-grade class at Asa Adams Elementary School where McCarthy is doing her student teaching.

Learn about our Thrive Foundations program, a partnership with the Penobscot River Educational Partnership, our Early Career Community of Practice, and our Rural Substitute Teaching and Innovation Corps (RuSTIC).

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A picture of Craig Hansen at Leonard Middle School.

Learn about our Teacher Leadership Community of Practice and Rural Innovation Learning Days.

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A photo of a school administrator.

Learn about the Small and Rural Schools Network for Building Leaders, and the work of the Small Schools Coalition.

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Join us at the 2025 UMaine Summer Educators Institute

June 25-27 in Orono

During the institute, Rural Thrive will be organizing a Cultivating Rural Teacher Leadership Strand and hosting a Rural Teacher Leader Support meeting. Workshops include:

  • Grant writing for your school and classroom
  • Reading your organization’s readiness for change
  • Interpersonal dimensions of teacher leadership
  • Empathy-based design to drive school change
  • And more!

Attendance at the conference is FREE for teachers participating in Rural Thrive’s Teacher Leader Support Network.

Register Now