RADFORD – Radford University students enrolled in the Appalachian Studies 495-595: Research in Appalachia class will continue to explore the answers to the question “How do we build sustainable futures for Appalachian communities,” thanks in part to a $4,000 grant made available through the Appalachian Regional Commission. Funds for the grant were channeled through East Tennessee State University.

The class prepares RU graduate and undergraduate students to engage in community-based research and provides them with the skills to conduct interviews in focus groups and one-on-one settings.

Funds from the grant are used to pay expenses for students and others involved in the project to travel to Washington, D.C., to present their findings to the Appalachian Regional Commission and 13 other colleges and universities in the Appalachian Teaching Project. The RU project this year focuses on the implementation of place-based learning in certain Montgomery County high schools.  The APST 495-595 students began their research with the hypothesis that place-based education, specifically Appalachian Studies, positively impacts students and instills a sense of cultural pride in these young people, thereby encouraging their commitment to contribute to their communities.  Eastern Montgomery High School, one of the targeted research schools, is an Appalachian Arts and Studies in the Schools (AASIS) participant.

Over 160 high school students from Southwest Virginia participate in the AASIS program, in which Radford University students serve as mentors.  The Appalachian high school students are determined by their teachers to be “college-able but not necessarily college-bound.”  To encourage the students’ consideration of higher education opportunities, RU mentors help familiarize the students with the college process, both from the academic and social aspects.