Happy 250 Birthday, USA

The Montana 250 Commission has been busy looking for ways to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the founding of the US including a lot of educational programming. They've funded the Civics Bee competitions, National History Day, prizes and teacher training, and traveling exhibits. They've also worked with OPI to sponsor the Seal of Civic Literacy and the Montana Challenge. If you teach middle school or high school and didn't have your students participate in any of these programs this year, consider them for next year!  

Seal of Civics Literacy and Montana Challenge

I especially want to draw your attention to the Seal of Civic Literacy and the Montana Challenge. 

The Seal of Civics Literacy is only open to high school students. 

To receive the Seal, students must

• complete the OPI's version of the U.S. Naturalization (USCIS) test with a score of 80% or higher.
• complete the required .5 credits of Civics courses during high school as approved by the Board of Public Education.
• EITHER perform 40 hours of community service OR perform 20 hours of community service while also passing the Montana Challenge test created by the Montana Historical Society and the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers.

This spring, 161 students took the naturalization test but only 62 were awarded the seal. I'd love to double this number in December, so start thinking about how to incorporate this into your government classes in the fall! (Find out more about the Seal of Civic Literacy--including links to study guides--here.)

The Montana Challenge is open to any student grades 6-12. It was the brainchild of the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers, who wanted a test of Montana history, geography, and government knowledge modeled on the US citizenship test. This spring, 414 students took the Montana challenge and 128 passed, winning a $25 gift card from the Sons and Daughters. They have provided funds to purchase another 150 gift cards in December 2026 for students who pass the test. (If more than 150 kids pass, they will be distributed by random drawing.)  Put this on your calendar for fall semester as well (no gift cards in 2027!) Here's more information about the program. 

Represent Montana in Washington, DC

A big national initiative to recognize the anniversary is the Great American State Fair. Windfall is looking for people (especially teachers!) to staff the Montana Pavilion. They are paying $30/hour plus travel, accommodation, daily per diem, and transportation in/around DC are provided. 

They are hiring nine staff for each of the following date ranges:

• Wave 1: Travel dates 6/23 and 6/30; booth dates 6/24-6/29 (6/24 will be on-site training)
• Wave 2: Travel dates 6/29 and 7/6; booth dates 6/30-7/5
• Wave 3: Travel dates 7/5 and 7/11; booth dates 7/6-7/10

Learn more and apply here.

Lesson Plans for the Anniversary

The Montana 250 Commission gathered a bunch of lesson plans to improve civics education and teach students about the history of the revolution, including this Montana Office of Public Instruction lesson plan, The Declaration of Independence and the "merciless Indian savages".  As you begin to plan for next year, check out their Civics Education Resources.

P.S. If you haven't completed the end of year survey, please do so! 

Summer Is Coming!

 

Thinking Ahead

If you are changing schools, please re-subscribe using your new address! We'd hate to lose touch.

Also, it's time for my annual end of year survey, where I ask teachers to share their favorite lesson or strategy. Participation has been down the last few years, and I think that's a shame because y'all do really cool stuff and other teachers should know about it. So--I hope you'll take a moment to share with us your favorite lesson plan, strategy or resources. Teacher recommended strategies, lesson plans, and other resources (whether created by MTHS or by someone else) are reliably readers' favorite posts to Teaching Montana History. I’d also appreciate your feedback on the services and resources MTHS.

Would you be willing to take an online survey? If so, click here. We'll be offering prizes to the 13th, 23rd, and 32nd person to submit a response, so there are lots of chances to win.

Summer Reading

Do you have any books to recommend to colleagues (on pedagogy, history, IEFA, or Montana)? Send them my way and I'll compile a list to share.

Student Opportunity

The National History Academy has need-based full and partial scholarships (including covering travel costs) for students interested in participating in "a unique pre-college program that inspires students to understand the foundations of American democracy and the responsibilities of citizenship through experiential learning."

"Based in Middleburg, Virginia near the nation's capital, the Academy uses the surrounding historic landscape as an outdoor classroom, immersing students in key moments of U.S. history where they unfolded. Through case studies of pivotal events and a parliamentary debate program that connects past to present, students develop a deeper, more active understanding of democracy. This summer, the four-week residential program will welcome 90 talented students from across the country from June 28 to July 24."

Interested students can apply through this link [nationalhistoryacademy.org]. You can also explore our website here. [nationalhistoryacademy.org] 

Create an ornament to be displayed in D.C. and/or learn more about Montana's Constitution

 

Sum Up Montana in a Christmas Tree Ornament

Looking for a fun end-of-the-year project? This year's National Christmas Tree is coming from US Forest Service Region 1, which included Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota, and the Forest Service is recruiting 10,000 hand-made ornaments to send to the capitol. Specifically, they are looking for: 

6,500 Small Ornaments for Indoor Trees

• Must be 4-8 inches in size
• Decorated front and back
• Lightweight and colorful!
• Express what makes Montana special (flora, fauna, state symbols, iconic landscapes, Indigenous nations, history relating to the forest or the theme "over the rivers and through the woods,” for example, Lewis and Clark expedition)

3,500 Small Ornaments for Outdoor Trees

• Must be 9-12 inches in size
• Decorated front and back
• Lightweight, colorful and durable for outdoor weather conditions!
• Express what makes Montana special (flora, fauna, state symbols, Indigenous nations, history, especially relating to the forest or relates to the theme “Over
  the rivers and through the woods”

50 Tree Skirts

• Skirts should have a diameter of 5 to 8 feet
• Slit needs to be included
• Center hole must be 6 inches

Ornaments may NOT include names (including sports teams or school names), divisive or offensive content, or political or religious words or symbols.

Ornaments must be double-sided. Do not worry about stringing up the ornaments (the Capitol architect has a special wire for that), but feel free to punch a hole. 

You can find more details about the rules and some inspiration in this folder. Note that this material all refers to Idaho, because that's where it was created, but they want Montana contributions too!

Mail your ornaments to Liz Burke, 2880 Skyway Drive, Helena, MT, 59602 before July 31 and she will deliver them. 

Billings Workshop on Teaching Montana's Constitution, June 14-16, 2026

There is still space available for grades 6-12 teachers in Teaching Montana’s Constitution: A Summer Workshop for Educators. Educators attending this free workshop will be offered lodging, a travel stipend, and 12 OPI Renewal Units. Learn more at the Friends of the Montana Constitution website.

Scholarships to the Montana History Conference

 

Save the Date!

The 53rd Annual Montana History Conference, "Culture Keepers, Catalysts, and Cowboys: Exploring Billings and Eastern Montana" will be held September 24-26, 2026, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Billings.

Keynote speakers will include historian Paul Hedren, author of Sitting Bull's War: The Battle of Little Big Horn and the Fight for Buffalo and Freedom on the Plains; Crow Tribal Preservation Officer Aaron Brien, and first-person interpreter Mary Jane Bradbury as Evelyn Cameron.

Renewal units will be available for both the Thursday educator workshop and all conference sessions and tours. (Check here after July 1 for more details.) We hope you’ll consider attending!

As in past years, we will be offering travel scholarships for both teachers and college students.

About the Schedule

Thursday, September 25

Scholarship recipients will be required to attend a half-day educator workshop on Thursday led by Melissa Hibbard and focused on historical thinking skills. They will then have the opportunity to participate in a walking tour of Billings, a workshop on sugar beets in Montana, or a workshop on writing and publishing. 

A welcoming reception Thursday evening at the Billings Depot offers the opportunity to listen to western folk musicians John and Joanna Lowell and see two pop-up exhibits, one on historic maps and the other on “The Montana Tapestry: People and Places from 1776 to Today.” 

Friday, September 26    

Whereas the Thursday educator workshop includes a combination of content and teaching strategies, Friday focuses exclusively on content, with presentations on a range of Billings and Eastern Montana history topics, from two photographers who documented the Crow to the history of 4-H and early Yellowstone River Exploration. For those willing to miss sessions, there are also several tours offered on Friday, including architectural tours of Billings, a walk through Mountainview Cemetery, and a tour of two historic cemeteries.

Saturday, September 27 

Saturday morning brings more focus on content, including talks about the myth of Chinese tunnels, biographic warrior writing, ski-jumping and racing in Northeastern Montana, and more. An optional behind-the-scenes architectural tour of Billings' historic buildings closes out the conference on Saturday afternoon.  

About the Scholarships

Funded by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation, the scholarships consist of full conference registration plus up to $400 in travel/expense reimbursement. All teachers and students in Montana’s colleges and universities are eligible to apply (residents of Billings and the vicinity are eligible for the conference registration scholarship but not the travel reimbursement). We will also be offering scholarships to cover the registration fee for teachers who only wish to attend the Thursday workshop.

Teacher recipients of the full scholarship must attend the entire conference, including the half-day Thursday’s Educators Workshop and the Saturday sessions (afternoon tours are optional). Student recipients must commit to attending all day Friday and Saturday but are also welcome at Thursday workshops.

Preference will be given to

• Billings area teachers
• Teachers and students from Montana tribal colleges
• Teachers from Montana's on-reservation schools
• Students from Montana community colleges and four-year universities
• Teachers from Montana's rural, under-served communities.

Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. June 14, 2026. Awards will be announced on Friday, June 26, 2026. Applying for a scholarship is quick and easy. Apply online.

Montana Stories for Kids

 Allen M. Jones, Montana's current poet laureate, has a challenge for kids ages 7-12: Write a story that's less than 300 words based on an interview with a family member, then send it to him to read.

Because he's a writer, not a historian, he proposes that students write their stories in first person. He has great prompts: "Tell me about a problem you had when you were growing up or when you first moved to Montana." "Was there something you really wanted that you couldn't have?" "Did you ever do something that you shouldn't have, and then try to get out of trouble?"

Many of his questions focus on problems--to create a narrative arch. "What choices did you make that led you to having your problem?" "How did you finally manage to solve the problem?" 

Here's the flier he's created with sample questions and instructions. 

If you are intrigued by this assignment but want to focus on non-fiction, check out the user guide Oral History in the Classroom Mini Footlocker for inspiration. Or Unit 4, Part 3, Lesson 2 of Montana: A History of Our Home, which asks students to interview a family member about their immigration history. (See p. 217 of the teacher's guide or p. 30 of the PDF.)

Teaching with Cemeteries

Last week we hosted our final Social Studies Third Tuesday for the year. Three MTHS Teacher Leaders in History--Jodi Delaney (Helena, grades 4-5), April Wills (Culbertson, middle school), and Cynthia Wilondek (Bigfork, high school)--talked about cemetery projects they conduct with their students. It was fascinating and inspiring!

You can watch the recording here. (Please forgive the fact that I kept opening up different files during their presentation. I was trying to gather links to resources to share with participants in a follow up email and thought I could do it without disrupting the proceedings. I was wrong!)  

You can also view their slides, which starts with an overview of cemetery history, includes the importance of teaching students how to be in cemeteries respectfully, and ends with links to resources and sample assignments, including some that can be used for any topic, like this handy PERSIA activity that asks students to look at a topic from multiple contexts (Political, Economic, Religious, Social, Cultural, and Intellectual/Arts.) Cynthia also made a handy Google Slide deck for students to use to break down their PERSIA analysis.

Here are some resources their presentation made me think of, most of which aren't in their slide deck. (And this list is the reason the recording is messed up!)

• Find a Grave. This actually is in Cynthia’s links, but I think it is important share it here anyway! For older students, adding information to this site (which could be as simple as pictures of headstones and inscriptions, but could also include obituaries and other information), would make a great project—and would be a genuine service to genealogists the world over.
• Digitized Newspapers. Both Jodi and Cynthia talked about using Chronicling America to research individuals, which is a fabulous source. Another great source are the many Montana newspapers digitized outside of Chronicling America project that you can access through this link.
• Jodi mentioned Chinese Tomb Sweeping ceremonies.
• There is information about the Tomb Sweeping festival in Lesson 7: Chinese Temples in Montana of the hands-on history footlocker “The Chinese Experience in Montana”.
• Mark Johnson also has middle and high school lessons on “Burial Customs and Cultural Practices of Chinese in America”.
• Mark also has a map of Chinese cemeteries in Montana and links to information about specific cemeteries in Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula on his website, Big Sky Chinese.
• Cynthia talked about Sanborn Maps. You can find many of them on the Library of Congress website.
• If your library (or classroom) doesn’t have a copy of Montana Chillers, by Ellen Baumler, you should order one!
• Wibaux middle school teacher Laura Dukart also has a cemetery project, "In Memoriam. A Study of Our Local Cemetery." Here's a presentation she created for teachers interested in creating a similar project in their own communities.

One of the teachers attending this PD wrote afterwards, "I've never thought of a fieldtrip to a cemetery and now I'm not sure why I hadn't thought of it!" I hope more of you will consider a field trip to your local cemetery this spring. 

Teaching Montana's Constitution: A Free Summer Educator Workshop

 Teaching Montana’s Constitution: A Summer Workshop for Educators will bring together Montana teachers for an in-person professional development opportunity focused on incorporating the story of Montana’s Constitution in their social studies, history, ELA, and/or government curriculum.

Fast Facts

• Dates: June 14-16, 2026
• Place: MSU Billings Campus
• Renewal Units: 12
• Cost: FREE! Lodging, two meals per day, and travel stipend provided
• Target Audience: Middle and High School social studies and ELA teachers
• Registration link: Register - Teaching Montana’s Constitution

Learn More

Organized by the Friends of the Montana Constitution, a statewide nonpartisan nonprofit, this workshop assembles constitutional experts, historians, retired public servants, and current educators to dive deep into the history of Montana’s unique 1972 Constitution and the people who wrote it. Teachers will leave the workshop not only with new materials and resources, but also with new strategies for incorporating Montana history and government into their classrooms in exciting and engaging ways.

• Session Topics Include:
• A primer on Montana’s Constitution
• Stories of the delegates to the 1972 Constitutional Convention including C. Louise Cross
• The role of judges
• The history of MT in the 1960’s & 1970’s
• Montana Constitutional Law
• How Article X led to Indian Education for All
• Understanding the initiative process and the role of the legislature, and more!

Presenters Include: Betsy Griffing, retired adjunct Professor of Montana Constitutional Law and Civil Rights Litigator; Pat Cotter, retired Montana Supreme Court Justice; Constance Van Kley, Assistant Professor with the Alexander Blewett III School of Law; Emily Cross, Billings Attorney and Granddaughter of constitutional convention delegate C. Louise Cross; Brad Faulhaber, Gov’t and Criminal Law Teacher with Sidney Public Schools; and Susan Fox, Retired Legislative Services Director.

Sponsors: This workshop is organized by the Friends of the Montana Constitution with support and funding from the Montana 250 Commission and the Montana Historical Society.

Questions?

Contact: Julia Gustafson, Coordinator, coordinator@montanaconstitution.org or 406-422-2920.