Montana State University receives funding to support local teachers

Montana State University is approved to receive a grant of $1.5 million to support rural teachers. 

Tracy Zuhoski is a local teacher who grew up in Belt, attended the rural school, and went on to receive his teaching degree from Montana State University. He was sure that he wanted to teach at a local institution which led him to teach grades sixth to 12th science at Lavina. He is one among the many people who understand the benefits of rural teachers. MSU's rural education center recently received a grant of $1.5 million grant from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. This amount is to be used to persuade local graduates to teach in rural schools and strive in doing so. This will be a two-year project called Advancing Support, preparation and Innovation in Rural Education, headed by Jayne Downey, Director of the Cente for Research on Rural Education. The ASPIRE project is expected to allow to create a system of mentorship where veteran teachers can be trained to be mentors. Downey who like Zuhoski went to a rural school agrees that having rural teachers teach will help the students even more due to their familiarity with the background. Rural teachers have to undergo separate training to teach in a rural school like what Zuhoski went through, in order to gain experience after graduation. 

The project involves three key components- preparing undergraduate students for rural teaching experience, creating and fostering a system of mentorship between veteran teachers and new teachers, and making professional development opportunities easier to access. The Rural Teacher Pathway Project provides clinical teaching opportunities to undergraduates. 

Source: Bozeman Daily Chronicle