Kids are kids, parents are parents, and colleges are colleges. Kind of. Every student, family situation, and college fit is unique, and the new Rural/Small Town Affinity Group was born out of the idea that kids—and the IECs working with those kids—from less-populated areas have their own special set of circumstances.
I’ve been a member of the Outreach Committee for several years now, and we often brainstorm ideas for reaching potential new 51Թ members. The idea of finding people in more far-flung areas came up and, specifically, IECs working in rural areas or small towns.
My husband is a “country boy” and always wanted a ranch of his own, so 14 years ago, we purchased over 800 acres in remote north-central Washington. The population of the town was then 24; it’s now up to 70. The high school 20 miles down the road will graduate eight seniors in 2023. While I primarily live in the Seattle suburbs, when someone suggested that perhaps we should start an Affinity Group for IECs working in or with students in rural/small town areas, I offered to get it started.
We now have almost 50 people in the group and welcome anyone else who cares to join! In our first two meetings, we have had people from New York, California, Minnesota, Wyoming, North Carolina, Delaware, Washington, Montana, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and elsewhere! There is no real definition of “rural” or “small town”—some of us think of towns more than 15 minutes from a city as being fairly rural; others live or work with students who can’t see another house from their front porch.
We recently discussed ways to access students who live in rural areas. Some communities don’t have a strong college-going culture; others send most kids to college. Some communities are centered around farming; others are primarily made up of families who work in the city and commute. And many of the IECs in our group work with a mix of students both local and farther afield who are coming from many different circumstances. Some of our ideas would work for anyone; others are more specific to our communities.
Here are some of the ideas we discussed for marketing the services of IECs to students/families in rural areas or small towns (many of which might help in any community!):
- Offer free seminars through the Chamber of Commerce to get your name out.
- Collaborate with local businesses like bookstores to offer workshops.
- Most schools have auctions or raffles for teams/groups; offer to donate a one-hour meeting or other services.
- Have a party at your home or a friend’s home—think Tupperware for counseling.
- If your practice is a nonprofit, look at the United Way grants program.
- Rural kids are often in different clubs from urban kids; reach out to 4H and FFA to advertise or offer workshops.
- Consider advertising or setting up a booth at local fairs or other community events.
- Watch for a local college fair and set up a booth.
- Girl Scouts has a “college knowledge” badge; reach out to your local troops and offer to help.
- Parks and Rec departments often do college prep events; volunteer or register to participate.
- If you also offer tutoring, consider signing up with Wyzant.
Upcoming meetings of our affinity group will discuss other topics, including paying for college, especially for land-rich/cash-poor families; the transition to college for rural kids; DEI issues; working with Indigenous populations; explaining the value of college to agricultural communities; and more. We meet at 12:00 p.m. ET on the first Wednesday of the month and all are welcome!
By Anne Holmdahl, CEP, 51Թ (WA)