Montana Education Excellence

The University of Montana School of Business Administration and the Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs will honor two world-class entrepreneurs with the 2008 Lewis and Clark Pioneer in Industry Award at a reception on Friday, Oct. 3.

The projected deficit is rooted in an overhead account that deals with the portion of federal grants called “indirect costs,” which is money UM receives from granting agencies to pay bills and other expenses related to the funded research.

On her drive back home, the Gillette school district called her and offered her a fifth-grade language arts position that paid her $43,500 to start — nearly $10,000 more than what she could earn in Helena and nearly $20,000 more than what she could earn in a rural school district in her home state.

"I came from a rural family of 10 on a working ranch in Billings, so I had to pay my own way for college. The University of Montana offered me a football scholarship, but no engineering program. Montana State University offered engineering, but no guaranteed football scholarship.

"So, when Montana Tech’s head of petroleum engineering and the head football coach offered me both opportunities, I chose Montana Tech," he said.

The Montana colleges are Little Big Horn, Fort Belknap, Stone Child, Salish Kootenai, Chief Dull Knife, Blackfeet Community College and Fort Peck Community College. Most of the schools will get about $272,000.

"I didn’t know about engineering until I was a sophomore in high school, and even then there were few, if any, opportunities to explore the field," she said. "It’s important for me to make sure I’m giving high school students the opportunities I didn’t have."

In response to growing concerns about the impacts of climate change, The University of Montana has completed its first-ever campus greenhouse gas inventory.

"It is an honor to work with the staff, students and parents of this school," said Principal Kelly Maki. "Great Falls Public Schools is a fantastic school district, and this award represents the hard work and high expectations we all share."

The goal of Rachel’s Challenge is to change school climates so that everyone feels welcome and accepted.

The students are employees who report to the student manager in each class. They must "clock in" at the beginning of the class period, and Kelly Parsons, business education teacher at CMR, said when students doesn’t show up for work, they are called to come in, just like they would be in the workplace.