This Texas town breeds something students need: confidence

Ten years ago the school district in this small rural town faced a choice that would cut deep in the heart of every Texan: keep its 11-man football program, or downsize to a 6-man program?

Sitting where west Texas oil fields meet north Texas farmland, the high school student population here had dropped below 300, so funding had dropped as well. Six-man football, or consolidation with other school districts nearby, seemed a question of when not if.

Rural communities across the United States have been in decline for decades, with their schools struggling along with them. In Texas, rural school districts – which make up more than half of the state’s 1,240 districts – are grappling with several issues. Funding from the state has been decreasing for years. Fewer people are becoming teachers, and those who are want to work in urban areas. Students in rural schools are performing as

A collaboration with industryLaunching, and returning?Growing Pains