For the third year running, Frostburg State University students headed to Washington, DC, in December to represent western Maryland in the annual gathering of participants engaged in the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Teaching Project.  On December 3 - 5, eleven students enrolled in Sociology 350: Folklore in Appalachia took part in the conference which focused on stimulating and encouraging asset based development and improving quality of life in the Appalachian region.

Pictured clockwise from top: Jenna Tenaglio, Mitra Karimian, Christopher Massimino, Austin Persons, Andrew Miller, Karl Burkhart, Mark Collins, Beth Campbell, Christina Williams, Amy Chesla, and Nathan Beeman with faculty members Kara Rogers Thomas and Cindy Herzog. (photo by Al Feldstein).

Currently in its ninth year, the ARC teaching project, administered by East Tennessee State University through the support of the Appalachian Regional Commission and the Consortium of Appalachian College, brings together students from multiple Appalachian-based institutions of higher education.  Undergraduates through PhD students gathered together in the Marriott at Metro Center to share their work and engage in a constructive dialogue centered on providing opportunities for Appalachian residents.  Though the content of individual projects varied widely, each focused on honing student leadership skills and encouraging students to serve their communities.

This year’s presentations were arranged thematically  to include: Documenting Communities, Greening Appalachia, Sustainable Economic Development: A Global Perspective, Working with Community Agencies, Renewing Community Through History and Culture, Promoting Community Through the Arts, and Community Centers.

FSU students partnered with Frostburg’s Mountain City Traditional Arts to document regional artists.  Their video-audio and photographic documentaries will be incorporated into the offerings at MCTA, posted on youtube and run in the Appalachian Independent.  FSU student Jenna Tenaglio provides a student's perspective in the adjoining story.

To be included in the project, participating institutions are required to go through an application process over the summer months in which they outline their project plans; detailing project objectives and outcomes.  In addition to presenting at the annual conference, participating institutions create posters describing their work and take part in at least one additional presentation at the regional level.  Many of these same groups present at the Association for Appalachian Studies Conference in March.  All projects are expected to involve a significant level of community partnership and service.  Although some projects are ongoing, reflecting the work of students through multiple years, in most cases, students involved in the annual gathering have been working on their projects over the course of a semester.

The guidelines for conference attendees are clear.  The presentations must be student led - no professors - and each student in attendance must take an active role in the presentation.  With 15 institutions participating this year and nearly 200 attendees, including many ARC representatives, the task can be intimidating.

With time limited to fifteen minutes, FSU students admirably rose to the challenge.  They provided an overview of Mountain City Traditional Arts, its programming and workshop series, discussed their own involvement in the venue, and screened a short sampling of their documentation.

A full listing of participants and program abstracts in provided below.

Morehead State University:  Human and Social Capital Dynamics in Appalachia

Through their project, students will learn about the history and development of Appalachia and their own community of Morehead and Rowan County in particular.  In cooperation with the ongoing NewCity Morehead (Rowan County) Project, students will focus on helping the group move towards its expressed goal of achieving “Intentional 21^st century economic development” in the region.  This was the highest priority that emerged in discussions with a diverse cross-section of citizens as part of the NewCities process.  Towards this end, students will engage in a historical case study of economic development in Rowan County in an attempt to better understand the region’s past development, as well as current and future prospects for creating a more sustainable and prosperous community.

Student Participants:  Blake Bedingfield, Bonita Fraley, Justin May, Trey Rosser, Kyle Yarawsky, Faculty:  Christi McMichael, Steve Lang  Guest:  Michael Hail

Appalachian State University:  Elk Knob Community Heritage Organization

ASU students will work with Elk Knob Community Heritage Organization (EKCHO).  EKCHO’s purpose is to promote the natural and cultural heritage of the communities surrounding Elk Knob State Park through natural resource protection, education, and historic preservation.  EKCHO is attempting to organize the communities to be more intentional and sustainable in planning for the future.  This spring, ECHKO conducted a needs assessment and identified several areas of concern.  The board has identified projects to promote the natural and cultural heritage of the area including a museum, road-side exhibits, and Land Preservation publications. ASU/ATP students will be asked to help EKCHO move toward its goals by conducting oral histories and other research activities relating to their community goals.

Student Participants:  Lucus Bowman, Ashley Brewer, Anne Chesky, Donna Corriher, Hannah Furgiuele, Tracey Jarrell, Taylor Kirkland, Shannon Perry, Faculty:  Patricia Beaver, Katherine Ledford.

North Georgia College and State Unviersity:  Creating a Greener Community:  Developing an Environmentally Friendly ASA Conference

We plan to gather and share data on the greenness of businesses in our community to aid going greener prior to the Appalachian Studies Association conference in spring 2010.  The ultimate goal is to attract more conferences and groups to North Georgia. The data generated should aid civic groups like the Chamber of Commerce or the Downtown Development Authority to attract tourists and possibly new businesses. We will work with the ASA conference to make sure conference attendees have information for supporting and experiencing a green North Georgia.

Student Participants:  Martin Erbele, Ashley Parker, Lauryn Sims, Jordan Hoffman, Faculty:  Michele Hill, Chuck Robertson, Guest:  Chris Jespersen

Northeast Alabama Community College: ‘SOLAR’ Can Work in Northeast Alabama

This year’s project will involve volunteer/local citizens with our students in researching, planning, and building a solar wind mill constructed from recycled materials found in local junk car-lots. Initial research was be done by our Fall Semester 2009 Ethics and Society class.  Actual Construction of the windmill will be done with combined efforts of both student and community population.  Its use could conceivably be actuated in connection with some new technical buildings now under construction on the school grounds.

Student Participants:  Austin Mullican, Elizabeth Beason, Haley Perry, Tiffany Cornelison, Brandy Smith, Desiree Lankster, Josh Camp, John Mark Kirk, Max Gilbert, Terry Kelley, Tonya Lankford, Adam Horndon, Amanda Latham, Emma Jane Sierakowski, Meghan Horton, Daniel Guinn, Brooklyn Rains, Cameron Pace, Taylor Nance, Faculty:  Don Reeves, Robert Moehr, Guest:  Susan Barron

University of Tennessee:  Exploring Economic Opportunities for Appalachian Communities in China

This project focuses on building sustainable economic development relationships between rural, economically disadvantaged counties in East Tennessee and China and intends to build upon relationships developed by UT with Shanghai University.  The students will be responsible for organizing and facilitating a workshop at the Baker Center in September for County Mayors and economic developers from the following rural, economically disadvantaged counties in East Tennessee:  Cocke, Blount, Hancock, Morgan, Scott, Monroe.  During this workshop discussions will focus on globalization, sustainable economic development, and opportunities to establish economic relationships with China (both import and export).  As part of the project, UT will also host a delegation of MBA students from Shanghai University in November.  The SHU students would take part in the second Baker Center workshop.

Student Participants:  Russell Shelton, Keiana Hunter, Rhiannon Chambers, Tim Helton, Christina Haddad, Seth Urbanowitz, Tom Herbert, Faculty:  Tim Ezzell, Bruce Tonn.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania:  G20 Peoples Summit Week:  The Impact of Over 30 Years of Globalization and Neoliberalism on the Northern Appalachian Region

IUP students will organize a symposium that will serve as an arena for discussing community needs and develop relationships with those who are addressing global problems on a state and local level.  The project will also help both the IUP Center for Northern Appalachian Studies and the ATP increase their visibilities within the university and Northern Appalachia as a whole.  The students will contact stake-holders who will speak to the issues of gender, race, immigration, health care, public education, public libraries, transportation, and the environment for their participation.  They will also develop and implement strategies for promoting the event both to the university and the external community; coordinate the logistics needed for setting up the event; conduct research, compile bibliographical information, create literature tables; and document and disseminate proceedings to the funding agency and interested parties.  In addition to these activities, the symposium will help the students indentify a participating organization for establishing a deeper relationship with the ATP, document its current status, and develop preliminary approaches to assist in addressing the establishment's needs.

Student Participants:  Amy Perkins, Christopher Schiano, Brandon Parana, Samantha Kiernan, Domonique Hinton,  Emily Landis, Michael Brisker, Cortney Branthoover, Christina Houks, Tara Thompson, Ebony Starkey, Faculty: Jim Doughtery.

Emory & Henry: Public Policy Options for Building a Sustainable Future in Appalachia

The Department of Public Policy and Community Service (PPCS) will offer the Senior Practicum in which students are engaged in service with a range of places, agencies, and organizations.  Developed in response to input from thirteen community focus groups, held across Southwest Virginia in March 2008, these student placements will focus on issues and questions related to asset-based community development, but addressing public policy issues of education, healthcare, energy, and the environment and sustainable economic development.  Together these placements, linked with classroom discussion and reflection, will provide students with opportunities to examine the effectiveness of current public policy focused on community development and to investigate alternatives to existing policies.  Each student will produce a policy brief focused on an identified need in his or her service placement.

Student Participants:  Becky Jones, Amanda King, Rachel Preston, Joni Ritter, Zach Triplett, Faculty:  Tal Stanley.

Ohio University:  We Serve to Learn:  Ohio University’s Appalachian Scholars Programs Partnership with Rural Action and Their Rural Renewal Initiatives

The Appalachian Scholars Program began its volunteer service with Rural Action in Fall 2008.  Shortly after the formation of the partnership, Rural Action needed to restructure due to a variety of factors.  In this process, a re-visioning of Rural Action’s mission was conducted resulting in an updated strategic plan entitled “Weaving the Fabric of Community Renewal: Restoration and Development through Community.”  Students will utilize service learning projects to identify critical community needs or problems and how to develop community-based solutions to affect long-term sustainability.

Student Participants:  Shea Daniels, Jeanna Unrue, Katherine Dufore, Megan Gray, Brittany Wolverton, Trace Lydick, Stephen Neuhart, Christopher Capper, Eric Alexander, Devin Wheeler, Faculty:  Mark Skillings, Sam Venable.

Radford University:  Economic and Cultural Impact of AASIS Scholars as Adults in Their Appalachian Communities

Our central goal for this year’s project is to find out what sort of work the former AASIS Scholars are doing, where they are doing it, what the economic impact of their education has been for them, and what contributions they are making to help sustain the communities they live in.  To accomplish this goal, we will ask RU student teams to make contacts in the communities of our current AASIS schools to search out AASIS Scholars for surveys and interviews.  The student researchers will then synthesize the information they collect for the overall region where we’ve worked.

Student Participants:  Shelly Caldwell, Cynthia Coughlin, Kelsey Lewis, Matt Prater, Jacob Spraker, Faculty:  Grace Toney Edwards,  Guests:  Paul Coughlin, John C. Nemeth.

Fairmont State University:  Monongah, Marion County, WV:  Exploring the History of Coal, Disaster, and Community

Students will explore the history of coal, disaster, and community in the town of Monongah, and will assist in preparing a proposal for a coal interpretive center that will explore the historical and ethnic culture and community found in Monongah, West Virginia.  Included will be a listing of potential educational exhibits, heritage tourism sites within Marion County, and the identification of resources such as documents, oral histories, and artifacts.

Student Participants:  Dena Jane Gilchrist, Arnold Triplett, Colby White,  Faculty:  Judy P. Byers, Noel W. Tenney.

Southeast Kentucky:  The Harlan County Project: Phase Nine

Students will work on two projects: 1) a community-based story collecting project for the third in a series of community musical dramas and 2) a student-driven program of art and music festivals targeted at county youth.  The story collecting will include one-on-one interviews by students with community residents, and an open forum engaging community residents in the question “What stories want telling now?”  In the five events in the arts series, ATP students have responded to one of the central crises of community health and well-being in our community: the lack of meaningful social outlets for the community’s youth.  Both projects will engage Harlan County residents in the exploration of a question central to the development of our community: “Should we live here or should we leave?”

Student Participants:  Keith Ellis, Nick Cornett, Corey Lowe, Andrew Milwee, Justin Clay, Audrey Clay, Charita Day, Stephanie Day, Candra Sweet, Jamie Bates, Crystal Gilbert, Greg Bennett, Greg York, Ebony Hamrick, Jessica Blakley, Charlene Drew, Rita Carreras, Rhonda Reed, Shawn Sweatt, Julie Sizemore, Faculty:  Ann Schertz, Robert Gipe, Tony Sweatt, Joe Scopa, Elana Scopa.

East Tennessee State University: Documenting Community Traditions: Marketing the Craftspeople and Artists of Northeast Tennessee

The central focus of the project is to document the work of the artists and craftspeople of seven counties in Northeast Tennessee and to use that documentation in developing marketing strategies for the arts.  The community partners are those artisans, along with local arts organizations and development initiatives including the East Tennessee Artisans Marketing Summit, the Tanasi Steering Committee, and the Johnson City Area Arts Council.  Project goals are to promote the arts, enhance marketing opportunities for regional artisans, and use the arts to foster sustainable development.  Students will also learn to work with a local community and how to use a cultural survey as a tool in community development.

Student Participants:  Jill Bumpuss, Chelsie Lawson, Josh Monroe,Stephanie Wilson, Faculty:  Tess Lloyd, Guest:  Gordon Anderson.

Frostburg State University:  Mountain City Traditional Arts

Mountain City Traditional Arts is dedicated to the education, sales, documentation and perpetuation of traditional arts in the Appalachian region.  Over the past year, students have been instrumental in documenting potential artists, and prepping and designing the shop space which officially opened its doors on May 30, 2009.  In Fall 2009 students will continue the documentation efforts begun by former students, using those materials to incorporate a deeper level of interpretation and display at the venue.  Students will also plan workshops and oversee a series of events including small roots-music performances and jams.  Several students will be working on developing and managing a “Sublime Saturdays” workshop series. These sessions will be documented by students.  Other students will work with musicians to schedule regular music offerings for the venue.

Student Participants:  Nathan Beeman, Karl Burkhart, Beth Campbell, Amy Chesla, Mitra Karimian, Christopher Massimino, Andrew Miller, Austin Persons, Jenna Tenaglio, Christina Williams, Mark Collins, Faculty:  Kara Rogers Thomas, Guest:  Cindy Herzog and Al Feldstein.

Virginia Tech:  Creating Cultural Capital through Assessing Prices Fork Elementary Community Impact

In addition to educating elementary school-age children, the Prices Fork Elementary School in northwest Montgomery County, Virginia, has been functioning as a community center for the Prices Fork community for about 50 years.  It will be replaced in 2011 by a new school that will expand the service area to include non-Prices Fork students.  This ATP project is one piece of a larger effort to document the various contributions of the old school to creating and sustaining community and to develop it into a viable community center for various local activities and functions.  Results of this project will be displayed or archived at the new school as well as being archived as part of a museum collection at the old school, should it be restructured as a community center.

Student Participants:  Kyle Barthelson, Colleen Doyle, Meghan Follo, Jaclyn Grysko, Brian Hanlon, Kelly Lee,  Kellsey Lequick, Anne Silveira, Amanda Spicer, Faculty:  Anita Puckett Guest:  Debra Stoudt.

Mississippi State University:  Plantersville Civic Engagement Project

Students will assist Plantersville in carrying out some of the goals and objectives identified in the “Plantersville Playbook for Action 2014”—the strategic plan for community development that the MSU ATP graduate students of 2008 assisted the town in developing.  Specifically they will work with the community leaders (mayor and aldermen) to help with some of the broad goals identified in the strategic plan.  The ATP project will engage the community through community-based efforts to address the following objectives:  to establish a town event to help community members become more involved, to hold an annual prayer breakfast or community service, to have better communication about town meetings and problems, and to create an educational support center in the Plantersville Community Center.

Student Participants:  Anna Dallas, William J. Ashley, Ulissa Byshelle Coburn, Cortney R. Harris, Kisha Rochella Jones, Margaret Monique Jordan, Nathan Ray Oakley, Geraldine Rich, Tiffany N. Ridgeway, Jamilah Ruffin, Nena Scott, Lucretia Kennedy Williams, Faculty:  Marty Wiseman Guests:  Gloria Holland, Barbara Armstrong, Norma Ballard, Mike McGrevey.