News Category: Rural Communities

Philipsburg, Montana’s Sweet Palace finds formula for success

Co-owner Shirley Beck noted just one example of many from a visiting Australian family. “They met someone in the Outback of Australia telling them that when they come to the United States, if they’re visiting the parks meaning Yellowstone and Glacier, you’re going to be in Montana and you must go to the Sweet Palace.”

Rural schools have a teacher shortage. Why don’t people who live there, teach there?

This school year, with the coronavirus pandemic making it even harder to bring in teachers from elsewhere, education leaders in the state issued 122 emergency waivers for unlicensed teachers to work in classrooms, the highest number since at least 2005.

‘Unbranded” Four men and sixteen mustangs on an epic 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada

Unbranded follows four men and sixteen mustangs on an epic 3,000-mile journey from Mexico to Canada through the American West to inspire adoptions for the 50,000 wild horses and burros in government captivity.

Review: “Our Towns” Brings Human Dimension to the Forces Shaping America’s Communities

Powered by the curiosity and compassion of its narrators, the HBO documentary offers an optimistic, visually-arresting snapshot of life in small towns and cities.

Winifred, Montana K-12school is getting a $40 Million high-tech upgrade

The vision, particularly from Norman and the design team as a whole, is that we could start to see this level of educational facility ripple throughout the state, that this will be a model for others to look to and say, ‘How do I accomplish that?’”

Population Gains and Losses Create Two Americas, and the Difference Is Mostly along Rural-Urban Lines

For the past half century, the nation’s smallest counties have lost population about a third of the time. Meanwhile, population growth in the biggest cities was nearly uninterrupted. The difference has big implications for the future of American communities.

Montana ranked #1 for physicians

They were analyzed using what WalletHub calls two dimensions: opportunity and competition, and medical environment. The two dimensions were broken down into 19 metrics, including hospitals per capita; average annual wage; hospital safety; and physician burnout.

How Four Rural Towns Are Building Vibrant Communities Through the Tools of Creative Placemaking

Whether it manifests in painting murals, repurposing public spaces, or simply rethinking how decisions get made, the art of creative placemaking is helping towns across the country address their challenges and unlock their potential.

HBO – “Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America”

Based on journalists James and Deborah Fallows’ book Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, the film spotlights local initiatives and explores how a sense of community and common language of change can help people and towns find a different path to the future.

Montana youth entrepreneurs bring their products to market online between now and April 16.

Each semester students in grades 9-12 can take the class that focuses on building a business based on products that they make in class and then sell. The class is funded through a nonprofit called Youth Entrepreneurs, an organization that works to bridge the gap between book learning and application by providing curriculum, activities and funding to get kids started.