If you recognized the title of this article as the first half of the FFA motto, good for you! It’s also a fitting descriptor for much of what the Education Interim Committee saw on its recent visits to Deer Lodge, Drummond, and Missoula.
The committee began its adventure at Montana State Prison as part of its HJ 47 study of educational programs for the incarcerated. The tour included the low-security prison library and classrooms focused on preparing inmates without high school credentials for the HiSET (High School Equivalency Test—similar to the GED) but also spanned the numerous vocational training facilities where inmates design and build furniture, fabricate signs, sew uniforms and linens, and learn upholstery among a host of other trades. Live edge bookcases from the furniture shop were produced from trees felled by inmate firefighters.
Making its way to Missoula, the committee visited Drummond Public Schools. After touring the industrial arts shop and visiting with several elementary school teachers, the committee was treated to some charcuterie platters prepared by high school culinary students. The committee learned how Drummond’s nationally recognized school lunch program partners with local ranches to keep dollars in the local economy. Superintendent Dean Phillips emphasized the value of high-quality, multi-talented educators to small schools.
The next morning the committee visited three sites of Missoula County Public Schools: Jefferson Early Learning Center, Willard Alternative High School, and the agriculture education center/farm. The Montana Board of Public Education joined the committee on these tours which culminated with a lunch served by FFA students out of their food truck that uses meat products raised, slaughtered, and processed at the farm, from “conception to consumption” as described by award-winning ag instructor Tom Andres.
The committee’s three-day meeting culminated on Friday with a joint session with the Board of Regents of Higher Education and a tour of Missoula College. From preschool to postsecondary and prison education programs, the committee saw passionate educators engaging students in hands-on learning — “Learning to do, Doing to Learn…”
