2026 Scholarship Matching Challenge

The challenge is complete! We raised $1880 through community giving to provide 12 scholarships to Dear Teacher 2026. Register for the conference here. 

 

In 2023, our team designed the Dear Teacher conference, a professional development program for teachers and librarians, as a love letter to the communities we serve in rural Maine.

We believe in making educators feel seen and supported, uplifted and inspired.

That’s why every single workshop facilitator at Dear Teacher is given a very specific task: provide participants with three key takeaways that can be implemented in a classroom or library of any size, on a $0 budget.

It may sound like a big ask—but it’s what is asked of teachers & librarians every day.

Support educators. Double your impact.

This year, a donor presented us with the opportunity to double any gifts toward scholarship support for Dear Teacher.

All gifts toward Dear Teacher ’26 scholarships made between May 13 & May 20, 2026 will be matched, up to $750!

By meeting our total goal of $1500, we can offer scholarships to 10 rural educators for the 2026 conference.

Why support the Dear Teacher conference?

Your gift will provide quality professional development for rural educators—accessible tools, hands-on learning, and support that honors the real challenges faced in their classrooms and libraries.

We know that schools and libraries have limited budgets for professional development, may struggle to find substitute teachers, or simply lack the time and funds to travel to where programs are offered. By awarding scholarships, we can remove one obstacle toward powerful professional development.

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“Attend if you are looking for easy-to-implement, evidence-based, multi-model, instructional strategies. I came away with so many ideas to share with my colleagues.

One of the best conferences I have attended.”

Kayanne Nadeau