Rural Schools Collaborative is proud to announce the 2025-26 Grants in Place recipients. The Awardees will work with their respective students on Place-Based Education projects, which address specific community issues.
The Collaborative believes that rural teachers are placemakers. Through Place-Based learning efforts, teachers are able to express their dedication to their place by rooting classroom teachings in the unique history, environment, economy, and culture of their rural community in which they educate.
Each Grants in Place Awardee receives a $2,500 grant to support the student-centered Place-Based project and their professional development presentation, held virtually on the afternoon of June 5, 2026. The Grants in Place program has awarded over $700,000 to rural educators across the nation.
Locally, Yazoo County instructor Melanie Davis-Hardy’s project has been selected to be a Grants in Place Awardee for the 2025-26 school year.
Melanie Davis-Hardy is a sixth-grade science and mathematics instructor at Yazoo County Middle School in Yazoo City, MS. With 31 years of experience, Hardy earned both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Elementary Education from Mississippi College. She has advanced her education through participation in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum's Teacher Innovator Institute, Western Kentucky University’s STEM Scholars Program, and the University of Mississippi’s Science Leadership Academy. A proponent of inquiry-based, hands-on learning, Hardy is enthusiastic about engaging her sixth-grade students in studying the Mississippi River through various data-driven, art-based projects.
Through Warriors of the Mississippi River, Melanie and her sixth grade students will integrate art, history, language arts, and science as they explore the nearby Mississippi River. Collaborating with federal, state, and county agencies, students will explore the river’s history, assess water quality, and become advocates for its preservation. The project will include visits to the Jesse Brent Lower Mississippi River Museum and the Vicksburg National Military Park. In addition to traditional metrics of data reporting, they will also share their learning through art, such as pour paintings and weaving, which will be displayed throughout the school as they foster pride, environmental stewardship, and civic engagement.
