District Residency Connections Fair

On October 13th, 2022 Wyoming School-University Partnership (WSUP) and School of Teacher Education (STE) held an inaugural District Residency Connections Fair. The fair was designed to connect education majors, future student teachers, and other College of Education students with rural districts around Wyoming in an effort to give students a window into each respective district’s offerings as it pertains to future residencies. Since this was the first year of District Residency Connections Fair there were limited spaces open to districts as a way to test district interest and student engagement.

The inaugural connections fair hosted a total of 8 districts: Big Horn #1, Converse #1, Fremont #14, Fremont #25, Laramie #2, Lincoln #1 Niobrara #1, Sublette #9 and was attended by more than 50 College of Education students of varying majors. Because of the positive generated by both student and district involvement, WSUP and STE are planning to host the District Residency Connections Fair on an annual basis during the fall semester. This event will stand alone and will not take the place of the annual spring Student Teacher Fair.

After the event, students were asked to take a short survey to provide feedback pertaining to the event. In this survey students highlighted some various concerns associated with doing a residency in more rural districts. Deterrents such as: being far from family, lack of housing, and childcare were all potential concerns expressed in the survey. Students who responded to the survey, however, overwhelmingly enjoyed the event and stated they would like to see more events like this in the future, so they can learn more about Wyoming school districts and what they have to offer.

If you are a district who would like to participate in this event next fall please contact Elizabeth McMahan at emcmaha2@uwyo.edu or Sarah Rundall at sarahla@uwyo.edu.