Otero Student, Jake Hinds, Presents at Research Conference in Lisbon, Portugal

In February of 2023, Otero student Jake Hinds traveled to Lisbon, Portugal to present at the Excellence in Research & Innovation (EIRAI), International Centre of Economics, Humanities, & Management (ICEHM), & Dignified Research Publication (DiRPUB) Conference with Dr. Robert Mitchell, Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership, Research, and Foundations at the University of Colorado – Colorado Springs (UCCS). Their presentation, titled “Rural and Remote Education: Outcomes and Challenges” focused on the advantages and disadvantages of rural education in the United States.

Jake first met Dr. Mitchell when he was a student in his dual enrollment history course at Campo School, a K-12 school that is the second smallest school in the State of Colorado. As explained on the Campo School District RE-6 website:

“Campo School District RE-6 is located in Campo, Colorado. The community is located in the southeastern part of Colorado and is found on the map 28 miles north of Boise City, Oklahoma, and 70 miles west of Elkhart, Kansas. The community consists of a one gas station, a Post Office, and one café. Approximately 100 residents are located in the community. The community is predominately farming and ranching”.

Jake was 6 weeks old when he first set foot in Campo School. His mom, a 5th grade teacher at the time, needed to get back to work as substitute teachers were few and far between, so a daycare was set up on campus. 18 years later, Jake graduated from Campo School in the spring of 2022 with a class of four students.

During his history course with Dr. Mitchell, in which one other student was enrolled, Jake was tasked with writing a 10-page paper on his assigned country: Portugal. A self-proclaimed history buff, Jake dove in and learned a great deal about the history of Portugal. Upon graduating from Campo School, Dr. Mitchell reached out and asked Jake if he’d be interested in traveling to Portugal with him to present a conference. At first, Jake was apprehensive about what he’d present on, as he was not an expert in any field, but one thing he knew he could talk about is what life is like growing up in a rural community. He was excited for the opportunity to travel abroad and visit the country he wrote his paper on, so he and Dr. Mitchell got to work.

At UCCS, “Dr. Mitchell focuses on global rural education, and is active in research and the development of legislation in support of teacher recruitment in remote locations” (UCCS, 2023, para. 1). His background in K-12 education, combined with his research interests, were a perfect match with Jake’s lived experiences. Together, they presented at the conference where Jake talked about the advantages and disadvantages of rural education.

According to Jake, “Some of the advantages of rural education include the sense of community students feel, similar to a family, small class sizes and flexible coursework that is tailored to student needs, and the fact that everyone in the school wants you to succeed. Some of the disadvantages include a lack of funding, teacher pay and housing challenges, fewer programs, less technology, and challenges retaining teachers”. During Otero’s strategic planning forums last year, these same issues came up as challenges for our rural college.

Reflecting on his trip to Portugal, Jake said “I could walk anywhere within 15 minutes and the food was great. I was able to visit castles and Roman cities that I wrote about in my history paper, and that was cool. The biggest shock to me was how people in Portugal view time. If a meeting was scheduled at 9 a.m., most people showed up at 9:30 a.m”.

When asked about his future plans, Jake said he is currently studying Ag Business at Otero and is interested in sustainable agriculture. He currently works on his family’s farm and ranch where they raise cattle and sorghum. He is looking at transferring to Oklahoma Panhandle State University upon graduating from Otero, though his plans may change. Jake was grateful for the opportunity to travel to Portugal with Dr. Mitchell, and he is looking forward to future adventures.