The National Rural Education Association (NREA) is proud to collaborate with the Dee Howard International Education Foundation (DHEDF) and the Mohave Valley School District (MVSD) for the National Rural Innovation Lab Initiative. This program is available to all DHEDF Participating Schools at no charge and is delivered virtually.
David Huggins, MVSD Innovation Coordinator, has agreed to serve as Director of the Innovation Lab Initiative. For his first act as Director of this Initiative, David drafted a working document setting forth a Vision, Mission Statement, and goals of the Initiative for discussion.
To facilitate searches for resources and dialogue among other DHEDF programs, several updates were made to the DHEDF website reflecting the integration of the Innovation Lab Initiative. All other DHEDF resources will be integrated with this Initiative, including but not limited to Leadership Calls, La Mesa Podcasts, and Virtual Presentations to schools.
A new “Initiatives DHEDF” section was added, including the following items: Early Childhood Education*; Innovation Lab Initiative*; Rural STEM Initiative; La Mesa Early Childhood Podcast; and La Mesa Rural STEAM Podcast. DHEDF has also added an Innovation Lab Initiative Category in the DHEDF STEM Forum, and added a new feature allowing users to create new discussion posts and comment on items posted by others. Please note: access to these resources is limited to DHEDF Rural STEM Participating Schools/Entities.
Lastly, DHEDF has added an an Innovation Lab Initiative section to their Rural STEM Newsletter to highlight special announcements for this Initiative. Special Invite: All rural and urban schools from birth through 12th grade are invited to become a DHEDF Participating School, at no charge, by submitting this online form.
Please feel free to contact Wayne I. Fagan, DHEDF Chair with any questions about the National Rural Innovation Lab Initiative.
To kick off the National Rural Innovation Lab Initiative, join Director David Huggins for the following webinar:
How Rural Districts Are Using AI to Meet Real Needs from the Rural AI Strategy Lab
Thursday, July 9, 2026 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm EDT.
