Rural Education & Literacy
Learn. Teach. Inspire.
Kathrina’s work focuses on enrichment-focused literacy instruction, rural education, and supporting multilingual learners.
Summer Literacy Academy
Kathrina created a summer Literacy Academy (2019-2023) for middle school students at the rural school in Minnesota where she taught. The four-week program included free books, breakfast, lunch, and transportation to and from school. In addition, she created the curriculum using research-based best practices that pivoted around students’ strengths. She also wrote the grants that provided funding for the program.
The program’s first year saw an increase in summer learning participation by 746% and all five summers resulted in positive learning gains for the students! In 2021, the Literacy Academy was a semi-finalist for the National Summer Learning Award. Kathrina helps other school districts plan enrichment-focused summer learning opportunities for their students.
Reaching Rural Readers
In 2024, Kathrina partnered with Dr. Danielle Sullivan to create an equitable reading program for high school students in rural Minnesota. Students receive three books (free) and meet online each summer month to talk about the books in Zoom. Pre-service teachers lead the online discussions and most of the book authors join in the meetings. Click on the link below to learn more about the Reaching Rural Readers program.
