Designing Educational Opportunities that Inspire Youth Aspirations and Strengthen Rural Community Vitality

Rural Aspirations Project (RAP) is a small nonprofit founded by rural, public school educators with experience working in traditional and alternative classrooms and in designing innovative educational programming. We (1) co-design and facilitate visionary, responsive professional development for rural schools, offering a clear process that builds and strengthens systems to sustain the work; (2) build thematic collaborative projects that invite communities to imagine a vital future, leading to hands-on, community-connected learning experiences; (3) collaborate with and build networks to connect organizations, businesses, and agencies into design processes and the needs of rural schools. Over 12 years, RAP’s work has evolved in response to a broadening understanding of rural education and statewide economic and community initiatives working towards a vibrant future in Maine. We believe that if we work in the “in-between” spaces to center youth, educators, and community, and create programs, curricula, and systems that result in participants building a sense of self, place, and belonging, then youth will develop healthy aspirations and contribute to rural community vitality. In this article, we unpack our theory of change and examples of our work to understand the systems and policies needed to connect youth aspirations to community vitality in rural schools.