TRRE Faculty Focus - Tom Schram

Tom Schram

Whether working as a ranch hand in Wyoming or supervising Teacher Residency for Rural Education (TRRE) residents in New Hampshire’s North Country region, beloved University of New Hampshire (UNH) Education Department’s Tom Schram has always had a love for small communities. Schram recalls many fond memories of spending time on his grandfather’s farm. His grandfather, Hal Case, started life as a farmer and went on to teach agriculture at the University of Illinois, as well as start several agricultural colleges in Asia and Europe. While reflecting on his grandfather, Schram shared, “My fondest memory of him was walking with him through the cornfields and having him pick up a handful of soil and talk about really what it means. He was always an advocate for farmers.” Case’s commitment to farmers and rural communities is something Schram often thinks about during his work with TRRE.

Schram’s career in public education started after a number of years working in the field of camping and outdoor education. He and his wife, Cindy, accepted their first teaching positions at a two-teacher schoolhouse in rural Wyoming, serving a town of 120 people and surrounding ranches. Years later, after receiving his doctorate from the University of Oregon, Schram was excited by the opportunity to return to northern New England to join the UNH faculty, as he had completed his undergraduate work at Dartmouth College.

Fast forward thirty years, Schram is now an Associate Professor of Education and the TRRE Director of Clinical Experience and Pedagogy. He enjoys working with school partners in southern New Hampshire through the School University Collaborative that oversees UNH school internships. Schram values this partnership with teachers, administrators, and UNH supervisors because of the relationships, as well as the fact that this work keeps him in the schools, a part of his job that he loves. Schram notes this is similar to his work with TRRE. He shares, “One of the reasons that I have come to feel that the TRRE program is perhaps the most meaningful, impactful thing I’ve done over the last 30 years here is because it is very much a return to my roots in teaching.”

As part of his role as TRRE Director of Curriculum and Pedagogy, Schram has been the faculty supervisor for all TRRE residents teaching in the North Country. Although Schram temporarily relocated to Randolph, N.H. for the first two cohorts in order to minimize his driving time, he has since returned to his home in southern New Hampshire, and regularly commutes to the North Country.

While describing a “day in the life” of a TRRE faculty supervisor, Schram first comments that it entails a lot of time on the road. However, this is just a part of the job. Schram explains, “Of course part of it is getting in [to the schools] and doing observations and having triad meetings with mentors and so on. But part of it is also just being in the schools and developing relationships with other teachers in the school.”

Schram identifies one of the most important parts of his role is simply to “be there,” to be present for scheduled and non-scheduled times with the TRRE Residents. When he visits schools building relationships with teachers and administrators, Schram provides informal support to educators who seek him out for advice or an opinion. He engages in additional formal collaboration with teaching mentors and community partners in northern NH. Schram is excited to support two TRRE teaching mentors as they explore aspects of their personal practices through independent studies. He also served as the Chair on the doctoral committee for one of our community partners. Lori Langlois, the Executive Director of North Country Education Services (NCES), who defended her dissertation at Plymouth State University this spring. Schram chaired her committee for the past two years and greatly appreciates her research, which examines youth aspirations and outmigration in rural areas. He sees this research as informative to not only the work at NCES, but also for TRRE, and the entire state of New Hampshire.

When asked what his favorite opportunities have been during his 30-year tenure with UNH, Schram quickly mentions TRRE. He cherishes the personal relationships and partnerships in the North Country developed since the beginning of the program in 2016. As TRRE established collaborations with schools and community partners, Schram expanded those relationships to local businesses and townspeople.

The TRRE program reminds Schram how central and important education is to rural communities, and he is grateful for this opportunity to work with them. As he looks to the future, he is excited to once again be involved with the UNH Education doctoral program through coursework and committee work. However, his trips through Franconia Notch and Pinkham Notch are far from over. Besides TRRE Residents to supervise, there are friends to catch up with, hikes to enjoy, and roots to revisit.