Appalachian Future Educators

About the Program

The Appalachian Future Educators (AFE) is a scholarship program and community of learners comprised of the best and brightest students within MSU's service region who intend to become K-12 teachers and teacher-leaders in the rural communities they came from. Eligible recipients of the AFE Scholarship and Program must be high school graduates who express the intention of pursuing educator preparation degrees or programs within the Volgenau College of Education. AFE Scholarship recipients are selected from MSU's 22-county service region: Bath, Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Elliott, Fleming, Floyd, Greenup, Johnson, Knott, Lawrence, Letcher, Lewis, Magoffin, Martin, Mason, Menifee, Montgomery, Morgan, Pike, Rowan, and Wolfe.

Through this program, the Volgenau College of Education is strengthening partnerships with school districts to identify, recruit, and mentor students from the region so they can return and give back to their home communities as rural educational leaders. AFE Scholars receive mentoring and leadership skill development, and participate in service learning activities connecting them to rural schools and communities. AFE's activities are supported by grants from the Rural Schools Collaborative (RSC), a partner of the Kentucky Rural Education Association (KREA).

AFE Scholars participate in a cohort with scheduled group meetings focusing on service learning opportunities that address educational needs within the local community and MSU service region. Each AFE Scholar is also paired with a mentor associated with the Volgenau College of Education or our P-12 partner school districts to assist in the transition to university life, explore educator preparation career pathways, and reflect on service learning experience through a leadership development lens.