CFO awards $500 grant to local teacher

Grace Reed, a teacher at Mountain Grove R-III School District, received a $500 grant from the Community Foundation of the Ozarks to purchase items needed for her classroom.
The grant, presented in recognition of Reed’s participation in the Ozarks Teacher Corps, was funded through the Rural Schools Collaborative’s Community of Learners program.
A graduate of Ava High School, Reed joined the Ozarks Teacher Corps in 2024 while studying education at Missouri State University through the outreach program at its West Plains campus. 
“We’re so grateful to call Reed an alum of the Ozarks Teacher Corps and to provide this grant for her classroom,” said Beth Hersh, the CFO’s director of scholarships and advisor of the Ozarks Teacher Corps.
“Ensuring new teachers are well prepared to serve in rural schools is critical, because school districts are essential to the health of rural communities.”
The Ozarks Teacher Corps is part of the CFO’s Rural Schools Partnership, an initiative that links rural schools and the communities they anchor. Teacher-education students attending Missouri State University and Drury University in Springfield, Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau may apply to join the Corps, which offers a $4,000 scholarship, renewable for a second year.
To join, scholarship recipients must agree to teach for at least three years upon graduation at a rural school district in the region. Established in 2010, the Ozarks Teacher Corps has become a model for similar programs across the country. To learn more, visit cfozarks.org/rsp.
About the CFO: The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is the region’s largest public charitable foundation serving donors, nonprofit partners and 55 regional affiliates — including the Mountain Grove Area Community Foundation and Douglas County Community Foundation — with $635 million in assets under management as of June 30, 2026.
The CFO’s mission is to improve the quality of life for everyone in central and southern Missouri through resource development, community grantmaking, collaboration and public leadership.
Learn more at cfozarks.org.