JUDA - JAM Academic Cooperative was honored with the Wisconsin Rural Advocacy Award by the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to helping address challenges faced by rural school districts, at the annual Rural Schools Conference Nov. 10.
The JAM Academic Cooperative is a cooperative between the school districts of Juda, Albany and Monticello. JAM has turned the challenges facing many small districts into opportunities for students by leveraging the power of technology, innovation and collaboration. "Rural collaboration creating endless opportunities" is the mission statement that guided these districts since its founding.
Beginning in 2012, a partnership with the Wisconsin Technology Initiative transformed teaching and learning for JAM with the deployment of real-time, interactive video technology. The Telepresence platform is used to share classes with other districts and institutions of higher learning. JAM schools previously had discussed sharing classes and instructors with each other, but putting students and/or instructors on the road was a constant obstacle. All three districts shared a commitment to offering a variety of higher level and dual-credit courses to better prepare students, but this could not be accomplished individually, considering the limitations of staff certifications and declining enrollment. Telepresence technology changed all of that and cleared the way for innovation, collaboration and exponential growth. JAM went from offering one AP or dual-credit course in 2010 to 10 in 2015-16.
The JAM Academic Cooperative is a cooperative between the school districts of Juda, Albany and Monticello. JAM has turned the challenges facing many small districts into opportunities for students by leveraging the power of technology, innovation and collaboration. "Rural collaboration creating endless opportunities" is the mission statement that guided these districts since its founding.
Beginning in 2012, a partnership with the Wisconsin Technology Initiative transformed teaching and learning for JAM with the deployment of real-time, interactive video technology. The Telepresence platform is used to share classes with other districts and institutions of higher learning. JAM schools previously had discussed sharing classes and instructors with each other, but putting students and/or instructors on the road was a constant obstacle. All three districts shared a commitment to offering a variety of higher level and dual-credit courses to better prepare students, but this could not be accomplished individually, considering the limitations of staff certifications and declining enrollment. Telepresence technology changed all of that and cleared the way for innovation, collaboration and exponential growth. JAM went from offering one AP or dual-credit course in 2010 to 10 in 2015-16.
