By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian

June 16, 2006 - Ovando, MT - Sandy Stitt and Shirley Peters are having a hard time staying on task.

“What are all those little blackish ducks swimming over there?” Stitt wonders, pointing far out into the nearby pond. “Oh look at that. That guy is really displaying over there. He must be trying to attract a female.”

The pair's classmates are scattered out around a large wetlands near Ovando, dutifully mapping the location as part of this day's assignment for the Blackfoot Challenge's weeklong teacher workshop.

But the bird-loving duo just can't focus - there are far too many feathered friends flitting about.

Of course, by this time the teachers from Helmville and Garrison schools have already picked up myriad ideas of new ways to teach a variety of topics in their classrooms next year and they're only halfway through the workshop.

“I get kind of inspired every time the Blackfoot Challenge hosts one of these workshops,” Stitt says. “I don't know how many times I've been listening to a presentation and think, ‘Wow, I could do that in my classroom.' I went back with the idea that I was going to build a log cabin one year.”

“They also have a ton of resources for us to use once we get back the classroom,” says Stitt, a Helmville teacher. “It's nice not to have to teach from the textbook all the time.”
Started in 1993 by a group of ranchers, conservationists and land managers intent on preserving the Blackfoot Valley and its traditional way of life, the Blackfoot Challenge has always included an educational component.

“People often focus on the conservation, restoration and preservation elements of the Challenge,” said Ali Duvall, the Blackfoot Challenge's education coordinator. “Equally important are the rural community and rural lifestyles, as well as the people who live here in the valley.”

That sense of community has always played an important role in what the Blackfoot Challenge works to accomplish, Duvall said.

Schools are an important part of any rural community. These days, rural schools face a variety of challenges, including unfunded federal mandates, dwindling budgets and building maintenance issues.

For years, the Blackfoot Challenge has offered teachers from the eight schools in the valley a chance to earn college credits while learning a variety of different ways to teach their students in the outdoors.

“We work to find ways to link the students and their teachers with the cultural resources right outside their door,” Duvall said. “Our workshops also help teachers stay connected with each other throughout the Blackfoot area.”

The weeklong workshops are held once every three years. Teachers attending can obtain some of the continuing education credits they need to stay certified.

Most of the funding for the workshops comes through the Chutney Foundation.

“We wouldn't be able to do this without them,” Duvall said.

This year, teachers from seven schools participated in the workshop, including Lincoln, Helmville, Ovando, Garrison, Potomac, and the elementary and high schools in Seeley Lake.
Bruce Bourne, a Seeley-Swan High School science teacher, is working with retired teacher Sandra Roe to get their mapping project complete. In between sketching in the features of the wetlands, they talk about what brought them here.

“I've always wanted to go on one of these,” Bourne said. “I'm hoping to add to my knowledge base. As a teacher, you're always looking for background information.”

Both were surprised at how much they learned during the nature journaling class that opened their weeklong adventure. The class required them to seek out a quiet place and then record whatever they saw, smelled or heard.

“I learned that squirrels eat a pine cone from the bottom up,” Bourne said. “It's something I'd never taken the time to notice. I came away thinking if I could just get my students to do the same.”

“There's so much neat science that comes from people making simple observations,” he said. “That's something I'd like to be able to teach my students.”

Reporter Perry Backus can be reached at 523-5259 or at pbackus@missoulian.com.
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