Reps. Isaacsohn, Holmes Celebrate Success of Inaugural Urban-Appalachian Education Summit

COLUMBUS - State Reps. Dani Isaacsohn (D-Cincinnati) and Adam Holmes (R-Nashport) hosted the inaugural Urban-Appalachian Education Summit on Saturday, September 21st in Athens, Ohio in partnership with the Ohio University Patton College of Education, the Coalition of Rural and Appalachian Schools (CORAS), and the Ohio 8 Coalition.

The summit brought together students, teachers, principals, superintendents, and advocates from across the state to discuss the challenges urban and Appalachian schools face and to brainstorm potential efforts to work together to advocate for public education.

"The future of our state depends on building bridges between our urban and Appalachian communities, and that should start with our schools," said Rep. Isaacsohn. "Every student in this state deserves a world class education regardless of where they come from, and that's what this summit was all about."

As strong advocates for public education, Rep. Isaacsohn and Rep. Holmes believes that legislators should be working in concert to advocate for the shared challenges urban and Appalachian districts face, which include: transportation, after school programming, access to diverse academic opportunities, and mental health. By bringing together experts and advocates from across the state, they hope that greater trust and partnership between our urban and Appalachian communities can translate into more bipartisan efforts to support the schools and students most in need across the state.

"Our schools are one of the few places in our society where we can come together and build personal relationships and develop shared community culture and values," said Rep. Holmes. "We all care deeply about Ohio's children, and this summit was a great opportunity to learn more about Ohio's educational environment, develop effective ways to meet school challenges, and build a larger cooperative team."

The inaugural Urban-Appalachian Education Summit included small group discussions to identify shared problems and develop actionable solutions and included a keynote address from Former Governor Ted Strickland.

"As governor, I focused a lot of effort on supporting Ohio's students regardless of what corner of the state they were from," said Governor Strickland. "The inaugural Urban-Appalachian Education Summit helped show that we must continue working together despite our differences in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for Ohio's children and our future."

Nearly 50 students, teachers, principals, and administrators from all corners of the state attended the summit, and 20 school districts-serving over 160,000 students combined-were represented. Rep. Isaacsohn and Rep. Holmes hope to expand the event next year and continue the summit annually in various locations throughout the state.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Pictures from the inaugural Urban-Appalachian Education Summit can be found here, courtesy of Rep. Isaacsohn's office.