The need for school supplies has been consistently present within our school systems over the years. But the need this year is expected to continue to increase as the number of families experiencing poverty is likely to increase in the aftermath of COVID-19. The Salvation Army has partnered with Family Promise of Gallatin Valley and Love In The Name of Christ (Love Inc.) to host their annual Tools for School drive and Community Event. Tools for Schools is a Salvation Army program that provides families in need with essential school supplies their children require to be successful in the classroom.

 
Those interested in donating supplies can order them directly from the Walmart registry and have them sent directly The Salvation Army Bozeman, June 30th until August 9th, or drop off supplies at 32 So. Rouse Avenue Monday-Thursday from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM.
 
Monetary donations can be mailed or delivered to P.O. Box 1307 Bozeman, MT 59771, or made directly online at www.bozeman.salvationarmy.org under the donations link. Please make sure to note on the donation “Tools for School”.
 
Those in need of supplies for their children and teens in kindergarten through 12th grade can sign-up online at www.loveincgc.org/school or call Love Inc. at 406 587-3008. Sign-ups will be held through August 2nd and are open to all Gallatin County residents.
 
The Community Event will be held on August 14th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. The location will be announced sometime next week. Families must sign-up to receive a backpack and supplies. Lunch will also be provided.
 
School supplies will benefit families who come to The Salvation Army for help, as well as local schools. "As school approaches, many families must choose between paying rent, putting food on the table or paying other bills” Captain Jennifer Larson, Corps Officer for The Salvation Army Bozeman Corp said. “This important program helps these families to have less stress and sets our kids in Gallatin County up for success!"

 
For more information on The Salvation Army or to learn how you can help, visit www.imsalvationarmy.org

Bozeman, MT— The Bozeman City Commission will consider declaring a stage 1 drought in Bozeman at the City Commission meeting this Tuesday, July 13th.  This stage is defined as abnormally dry and calls for Bozeman community members to proactively reduce water use through voluntary water conservation efforts.

 
If the City Commission approves a Stage 1 Drought residents will be asked to do their part to help conserve water. During a Stage 1 Drought, the goal is to reduce total system-wide water usage by 10% and water conservation is encouraged but not mandatory. The City of Bozeman has a four-stage drought plan that can be implemented by the City to dictate water use guidelines during a City-declared drought event.

 
The City of Bozeman’s water supply sources include Hyalite Creek, Sourdough Creek, and Lyman Spring.  The City’s Water Conservation Division monitors for drought by tracking local data such as stream flow, reservoir volume, and snowpack, as well as national climate data.  Snowpack and streamflow levels in Bozeman’s municipal watershed are currently below normal.  These conditions, combined with an exceptionally hot and dry summer, are impacting the City’s water supply and resulting in significantly high water demand for this time of year due to increased landscape irrigation.

 
Water Conservation Manager Jessica Ahlstrom says, “Bozeman is a semi-arid climate and we have prepared for the possibility of a drought. The most important thing for folks to remember is that their small actions can, and do, make a difference.”
 
The Water Conservation Division asks that residents proactively take steps to conserve water. More information and tips on conservation and the latest updates on drought conditions are available on the City’s website.

The 14th season of Montana PBS’s award-winning series “11th and Grant with Eric Funk” will feature six performers. It will be filmed in July and will begin airing this winter.

The Emmy Award-winning series seeks out respected musicians in Montana and invites them into viewers’ homes, fusing in-depth interviews with performances in the KUSM-TV studio, located at 11th and Grant on the Montana State University campus in Bozeman. The series is hosted by composer and MSU music professor Eric Funk.

This season will feature a variety of music, including baroque, country-folk, opera, jazz, Americana and brass.

The filming schedule follows by date and musical performer:

Sunday, July 18: Carrie Krause and Baroque Music Montana
Monday, July 19: The Lucky Valentines
Tuesday, July 20: Bobcat Brass Trio
Wednesday, July 21: Frederick Frey and Friends
Thursday, July 22: Adam Platt Trio
Friday, July 23: Jim Salestrom

Aaron Pruitt, director and general manager of Montana PBS, said the station is looking forward to resuming in-studio production of the program after the 2020 recording schedule was delayed by COVID-19.

“We adapted many of our programs last year due to the pandemic, but we knew we wanted to provide our ‘11th and Grant’ audiences and musical guests with the exceptional in-studio quality for which this series is renowned,” Pruitt said. “We decided to postpone our production schedule last summer until we could bring everyone back together in a safe environment, and we’re looking forward to doing so next month.”

The first new episode of the series will premiere in November. Additional episodes will be released in the winter and spring of 2022 and through 2023.

For more information about “11th and Grant with Eric Funk,” visit montanapbs.org/11thandgrant.

Bozeman Symphony announces the appointment of five new members to its Board of Directors as three previous members completed their terms. The organization is proud to welcome Heather White, Kenneth May, Tamara Havenhill-Jacobs, Thomas Bray, and Robert Ritchie to its Board of Directors.  
 
“The Bozeman Symphony has recently expanded its Board of Directors with accomplished, talented, and passionate individuals, who give their time, expertise, and desire to see the Symphony grow,” said Stephen Schachman, Board of Directors Chair. “All five of these board members are passionate leaders in the Bozeman community and are committed to helping the Symphony and the greater cultural community thrive.” 

 
As the organization and concert season continue to expand, so does the need for strong leadership on its Board of Directors. Schachman believes the five new board members will help shape the future growth and vitality of the Bozeman Symphony. Last month, the Bozeman Symphony announced the expansion of its 2021/22 Concert Season with a new series titled Bozeman Symphony Presents in addition to the organization’s historical six classical concerts. The Bozeman Symphony Presents series aims to attract music lovers of all genres with two concerts, including Holiday Spectacular featuring local favorite Jeni Fleming and John Williams: 90th Birthday Bonanza. Find out more information about the upcoming season, subscription, and ticket options on the Bozeman Symphony website (bozemansymphony.org). 

 
As the Symphony welcomes its new members, the organization would like to recognize the incredible contribution of previous board members Cliff Schutter and Walter Wunsch, who joined the Symphony’s Advisory Council, and Carole Sisson whose terms ended earlier this year. 
 
For more information about the Bozeman Symphony call 406-585-9774 or visit bozemansymphony.org. A complete list of the Symphony’s Board of Directors is available online at bozemansymphony.org/board-of-directors. 
 
Heather White, Writer, Attorney, and Nonprofit Consultant - Heather is the President & CEO of Heather White Strategies, LLC, which partners with businesses, foundations, and nonprofits to create a healthier, greener, more equitable world. She is the past president and CEO of Yellowstone Forever, the nonprofit partner to Yellowstone National Park, executive director of the nonprofit watchdog Environmental Working Group, director of education advocacy for the National Wildlife Federation, and United States Senate staffer. She served on various political campaigns (including Al Gore's Presidential Campaign in 2000 and as recount attorney) and as a litigation associate at Bass, Berry & Sims in Nashville, Tennessee. She's a frequent spokesperson in the national media on conservation issues and has been quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Roll Call, The Montana Standard, MindBodyGreen and featured on the CBS Morning News, PBS News Hour, Fox News, MSNBC, and Dr. Oz. She's passionate about music, nature, philanthropy, and empowering the next generation.  

 
Ken May, Consumer Markets CEO – Ken splits his work between investing in travel and hospitality groups, serving as an advisor to several start-up companies and mentoring young executives. Previously, Ken had an international business career with a variety of global consumer market corporations, before moving to Bozeman in 2012. Ken’s wife Mary is a teaching chef and wellness instructor in Ayurveda as certified by the Chopra Center. Ken shares that his “formal education in musicology consisted of reading every LP album cover in the classical music section of the Middlebury Book Store (VT) and borrowing every record he could during his four college years.” 

 
Tamara Havenhill-Jacobs, Chief Information Officer - Tamara serves as the Chief Information Officer for Bozeman Health. As an experienced executive with 30 years in healthcare ranging from integrated care delivery systems to pediatric and academic health systems, she has a passion for new and emerging areas within healthcare that elevate care delivery and experience. Tamara is married to Chris Jacobs and they have a 14-year-old daughter, Giavanna. The impact, role, and value of music is important to their entire family and Tamara is very excited to join the Bozeman Symphony Board. 

 
Thomas Bray, Editor, Retired- Thomas moved to Bozeman in 2010 from Birmingham, Michigan, where he had been editorial page editor of The Detroit News for 23 years. Prior to that he had served as a reporter, bureau chief and associate editor of The Wall Street Journal news and editorial pages. Tom also served as board chair of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) of Bozeman and currently chairs a 5-person committee that monitors the editorial independence and ethics issues at The Wall Street Journal. He is a graduate of Princeton University. 

 
Robert Ritchie, President, CEO - An insurance industry veteran with more than 35 years of experience, Bob Ritchie has built and transformed businesses ranging from startups to large national insurance companies. His vast background includes specialty niche insurers, such as American Modern, national carriers, including AIG and CNA, and conglomerates, including GE Insurance Solutions. He brings this experience to benefit American Integrity and its policyholders.  

 
Bob is a leader who understands the needs of both his customers, the agent, and the policyholder. His specialties are broad with a strong analytical base along with profound success in sales and marketing. As the founder of American Integrity, he is committed to the success and growth of the Company along with the stability of the Florida insurance marketplace. The Company serves over 300,000 customers throughout Florida. As the fifth largest Florida home insurer, the Company has annual revenues of $400m. 

 
Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir - Each concert season the Bozeman Symphony presents a repertoire of symphonic and choral music performed for the benefit of individuals, students, and musicians in south-central Montana. Performances and events include a series of classical subscription concerts, performances aimed at engaging and attracting new audiences under the umbrella of “Bozeman Symphony Presents,” Current Commotion – an experimental music series that allows the Bozeman Symphony to be on the cutting edge of our industry, and a strong desire to launch a summertime music festival. The Bozeman Symphony Orchestra and Symphonic Choir have established themselves as significant cultural icons in Montana, whose history is marked by artistic excellence. Our future is dependent upon maintaining a skilled and motivated orchestra whose members bring symphonic music to life. To learn more or donate to the Bozeman Symphony, call 406-585-9774 or visit www.bozemansymphony.org. 

Montana State University Extension has a MontGuide available that covers how successors can access a deceased person’s financial accounts.

Montana law provides simplified procedures for successors to acquire a decedent’s accounts at financial institutions such as banks, credit unions, savings and loans firms, brokerage firms and stocks or bonds companies, says Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension family economics specialist. If the person held the account with another individual or individuals with rights of survivorship, the surviving joint tenant can legally remove the money in the account.

“If the financial account is solely owned by the decedent with a payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) designation, then under Montana law the POD or TOD beneficiary is entitled to the funds,” Goetting said.

For single-party accounts without a POD or TOD beneficiary designation, probate and the appointment of a personal representative is generally required before the accounts can be distributed to successors if the decedent’s estate is worth more than $50,000. If the decedent’s estate does not exceed a value of $50,000, the successor can collect money in the decedent's accounts by presenting proof of identification, a certified death certificate and an “Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of a Decedent” form.

The “Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property of the Decedent” must be signed by the person claiming to be the successor, and the signature must be notarized by a notary public, Goetting said. The form is available at https://www.montana.edu/estateplanning/affidavitforcollectionofpersonalpropertyforpdffillableform.pdf.

Paper copies of the “Accessing a Deceased Person's Financial Accounts” MontGuide are available at county and reservation Extension offices.

In recent years, the effect of trauma on students’ educations has become more widely recognized, but Montana State University researcher Christine Stanton says an important question remains: How can education research help when education itself is traumatic for many students?

Stanton, an associate professor in the Department of Education, and Robert Petrone, a former MSU faculty member who is now an associate professor at the University of Missouri, have published an article in a prominent academic journal exploring the question. “From Producing to Reducing Trauma: A Call for ‘Trauma-Informed’ Research(ers) to Interrogate How Schools Harm Students” was published in May in Educational Researcher. Petrone is the article’s lead author.

“Trauma-informed education is really a bit of a hot topic right now,” Stanton said. “The essence of it is recognizing that some students – many students, maybe – have experienced trauma in their own lives. Because of that trauma, they are unable to learn as effectively or they might act out in certain ways.”

However, trauma is often regarded as something that has happened outside the schools, Stanton said, neglecting that schools themselves sometimes produce trauma.

“What we don’t necessarily see is the opportunity for educators and educational researchers to recognize the very complex ways that we continue to reinforce – and sometimes produce in new ways – trauma,” Stanton said. “The piece talks about historical trauma as a way to think this through.”

One example of historical trauma is the school experiences of Indigenous youth in the U.S.

“From the mid-1800s to the 1970s, officials removed Indigenous children from their families and sent them to boarding schools, where their hair was cut, their clothes replaced, and their language forbidden — all in the service of their being ‘civilized,’” Stanton and Petrone write. “In addition to the sexual assault and physical abuse that Native youth endured at these schools and later imported to their home communities, the lasting effects of the boarding school era includes endangerment of language, loss of knowledge systems, and a fracturing of family, cultural practices, and overall cultural identity.”

Another example comes from Stanton’s own work as a high school teacher, when she worked with Native students on the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming. During her time there, she learned some Native parents felt uncomfortable coming to the school for parent-teacher conferences because, she said, school had not been a good, comfortable place for them, their parents or grandparents. As a result, some chose not to attend conferences.

“The assumption, then, is they don’t want to be involved in child’s education, but that is far from true,” Stanton said. “Once we moved our parent-teacher conferences to a different site on the reservation, we had a very different response rate.”

In addition, Indigenous histories can sometimes be excluded in curriculum materials, Stanton said, making some Native students feel more invisible in the classroom and leading them to have to deal with misconceptions.

“The reality is, many of our students, especially students of color and from minoritized communities, are not bringing with them individual traumatic experiences,” Stanton added. “They’re bringing collective traumatic experiences – trauma experienced by whole communities – and bringing historical, intergenerational trauma as well.”

To address what Stanton and Petrone see as a gap in current trauma-informed education, they suggest in their article ways for schools and universities to play a role in addressing the role of schools in producing trauma, especially in terms of educational research.

“We’re arguing for a more participatory, community-based and student-centered framework that recognizes the complexities of the social environments and the historical nature of trauma,” Stanton said. “To do that, we acknowledge that many researchers, ourselves included, have not experienced the same type of trauma that maybe our students have experienced.”

One way to modify educational research is focusing on the research setting, they wrote. Educational researchers will often invite parents to come to a school and have a conversation or take a survey, or they may mail a survey to prospective research participants. Those common practices, however, miss the complexities of historical trauma, Stanton said.

“Families may not be comfortable in the school setting, and a lot of families on reservations don’t have mailing addresses,” Stanton said. “They would never get the survey, and they might not want to fill something out and send it to a white researcher they don’t know, given the history of how white people have collected and misused data about education.”

A more culturally appropriate alternative, Stanton said, would be conducting interviews at a community center.

Stanton and Petrone also advocate for more community-based participatory research —that is, research done in partnership with the community. 

“A community-based approach to trauma-based educational research positions the community as an asset – a potential source of knowledge and healing filled with networks of support,” Petrone said.

“It’s important to draw attention to the fact that schools are not neutral or inherently ‘safe’ places for many students,” he added. “For us, this has to be the starting point for any intervention for school reform, especially those understood as ‘trauma-informed.’ It may not be comfortable to sit with this, but it’s imperative we acknowledge that schools have been – and for some students continue to be – harmful places, and then inquire into how to mitigate this harm rather than assume schools are safe places of refuge for some students.”

“From Producing to Reducing Trauma” grew out of Stanton and Petrone’s previous work with Indigenous communities.

Stanton, who came to MSU in 2010, conducts research in collaboration with Indigenous communities throughout the state. Those projects – more than half a dozen since coming to MSU – have been driven by requests from the communities, she noted.

As MSU colleagues, she and Petrone also frequently worked together in collaboration with Indigenous communities. One particularly transformative experience occurred several years ago, when several students, teachers and a counselor from an alternative high school on a Native American reservation in Montana visited the MSU campus, Stanton said. During their visit, the high school students met with MSU students who were studying to become English and social studies teachers.

“During that experience, we were all sitting in a big circle in a classroom in Reid Hall, and the three young men from the alternative high school that came to visit were so open and candid about their individual and collective experiences with trauma,” Stanton recalled. “It just blew the minds of the MSU students, almost all of whom identified as non-Indigenous. Every jaw hit the floor. It proved to be transformative not only for the (MSU) students, but also for Rob and me, and most importantly, for the high school students, some of whom went on to college themselves.

“(Rob) and I … have continued to work with (that particular community),” Stanton said. “So that ongoing 10-plus years of partnering with that community and a continued promise to continue that work is central to being able to learn about these particular experiences and that led to this particular piece.”

Alison Harmon, dean of the MSU College of Education, Health and Human Development, said the article has the potential to transform educators’ and researchers’ understanding of trauma-informed teaching.

“Schools should be safe places for children and youth to learn,” Harmon said. “Educators who understand the impact of individual and intergenerational trauma can make a difference for their students and families, improve schools, and advance the profession of education.”

Stanton noted that she and Petrone hope the article will help encourage and empower educators and educational researchers to make changes in their work.

“We can’t control what happens in their home, or the history, or the intergenerational experience that they bring with them,” Stanton said. “But we can certainly control what we do as educators in our classrooms, schools, universities and systems. Finding a way to address trauma within our own professions is really the optimistic outlook of the piece.”

OVANDO – On the morning of July 6, the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ Wildlife Human Attack Response Team responded to a fatal bear attack in Ovando.

The incident happened early Tuesday morning.

FWP biologists, conflict specialists and game wardens are on the scene and searching for the bear.

A video camera from a local business caught footage of a grizzly bear Monday night, and a bear also got into a chicken coop.  

Grizzly bears are common in the Blackfoot Valley where Ovando is located.

More details on the incident will be released as they are available.

UPDATE 7/7/21:

FWP keeps traps in Ovando area, more details released

OVANDO – After two days of searching by helicopter and on the ground, the grizzly bear that killed a woman Tuesday morning has not been found. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks bear specialists and wardens are continuing to monitor culvert traps set in the area.

The search even included the use of infrared technology from Two Bear Air Rescue out of Kalispell, but efforts to find the bear are now focusing on traps near Ovando.

Details surrounding the circumstances of the attack indicate the bear entered town Monday morning and came to an area near the post office at about 3 a.m., where the victim was sleeping in a tent. Another couple in her party were sleeping in a tent nearby.

The bear initially woke the campers but then ran away. The three campers removed food from their tents, secured it, and went back to bed.

The bear was captured by a video camera at a business less than a block away at about 3:15 a.m.

At about 3:30 a.m. the two people in the tent adjacent to the victim were awakened by sounds of the attack. They exited the tent and sprayed the bear with bear spray. It has not been seen since.

The bear pulled the victim from the tent during the fatal attack.

At some point during the night the bear also got into a chicken coop in town, killing and eating several chickens.

While the initial search for the bear was unsuccessful, FWP wardens and bear specialists will continue to monitor the area closely.

“At this point, our best chance for catching this bear will be culvert traps set in the area near the chicken coop where the bear killed and ate several chickens,” said Randy Arnold, FWP regional supervisor in Missoula.

FWP bear experts believe the bear was an approximately 400-pound male, judging by behavior and footprints. DNA from the bear was collected at the scene of the attack and will be analyzed. Should a bear be caught in a trap, DNA can quickly be compared to the DNA already collected to determine if it is the same animal.

Anyone who spots a grizzly bear near Ovando should call the FWP Missoula office at 542-5500.

7/9/21 Officials kill grizzly bear near Ovando

OVANDO – Wildlife officials shot and killed a grizzly bear early Friday morning less than two miles from Ovando, where a woman was killed in a grizzly bear attack early Tuesday morning.

The bear was killed at the scene of a second chicken coop raid that was very similar in nature to the one that happened in Ovando the night of the fatal attack.

Given the proximity to Tuesday’s attack, the evidence found at the scenes and the fact another chicken coop was raided, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks officials believe this is the same bear but confirming DNA analysis will take a few days.

The second chicken coop raid occurred Wednesday night, about 48 hours after the attack in Ovando. FWP specialists set a trap at the second coop on Thursday and USDA Wildlife Services specialists were monitoring the trap Thursday night when the bear approached and was shot. Wildlife Services specialists were assisting at the request of FWP officials, anticipating the bear would return to the coop. They used night vision technology to aid in shooting the bear.

DNA samples from the bear will be compared to samples taken from the scene of the fatal attack Tuesday to determine if this was the same bear. In the meantime, FWP staff will remain vigilant and keep at least one trap set near the first chicken coop on the outskirts of Ovando.

If people see a bear in the area of Ovando, please call FWP at 542-5500.

8/4/21 Update: Wildlife officials, Blackfoot community work together on fatal bear attack details and next steps

OVANDO – Wildlife officials and the local Blackfoot Valley community are working together to wrap up details of the July 6 fatal grizzly bear attack of a camper in Ovando.

Soon the information will be sent on to the Board of Review, a group of wildlife staff from federal and state agencies assembled to look at the details of all human-bear attacks and record them in a final report. The board will release its final report, containing all details of this Ovando case sometime later this year.

On July 14, DNA results confirmed that the bear killed by wildlife officials was the same bear that fatally attacked Leah Davis Lokan in her tent in the early morning hours of July 6. DNA samples from the bear, saliva samples at the scene of the attack and samples from two chicken coops in the area that the bear raided all matched up.

The tragic event brought community members and wildlife officials together to respond, collect information and discuss next steps.

On July 4, 2021, at approximately 10:15 pm, the Bozeman Police Department responded to the Bozeman Pond walking trail in the 600 block of South Fowler Avenue for the report of two adults who had been shot.

Officers located two gunshot victims who were being cared for by nearby residents and were told the suspect had fled the area. Both victims were transported to an area hospital for emergency care and are expected to survive.

With the assistance of the Montana State University Police Department, Montana Highway Patrol and the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office an exhaustive search of the area was conducted although the suspect has not been located.

The suspect is described as having a slender build, wearing a dark gray hooded sweatshirt, black mask covering their nose and mouth and approximately 5-09 to 6-00 feet tall. It is unknown at this time if the suspect is male or female.

No other persons were injured as a result of the shooting. This matter remains under investigation and anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Detective Quinn Ellingson at 406-582-2956 (qellingson@bozeman.net) or email crimetips@bozeman.net.

Persons with information that help solve this crime may remain anonymous and could be eligible for a reward. The Bozeman Police Department thanks the local residents for assisting the victims and encourages all residents to promptly report suspicious activity to 911 or to the police department’s non-emergency line at 406-582-2000.

 Gallatin College Montana State University is offering a job-preparedness training program for those interested in a career in the high-demand field of construction.

The Job Site Ready Construction Training Program is available as noncredit workforce training, pre-apprenticeship hours or a Montana University System credit option. The program is designed to equip participants in a short amount of time with real-life work experience and the essential skills to start an entry-level job in the construction trades. Participants will learn skills such as power and hand tool use and maintenance; construction materials; workplace safety; industrial practices; basic print reading; basic framing and concrete work. The JSR program is a statewide collaboration between Gallatin College, Great Falls College, Missoula College, Billings City College at MSU, Bitterroot College and Hellgate High School.

“The idea is to give students the basic tools to go into an apprenticeship program with a head start over someone else without this training,” said Frank Harriman, construction trades adviser and instructor for the program. “We want to provide them with exposure to the field and give them the confidence they can do the jobs they are asked. We feel once they are exposed to this industry, they can see why a lot of us find it fun and a likable job.”

The program is open to interested individuals age 16 and older statewide, especially high school students considering their next move, individuals who are looking for a new skillset or career change and the potential to earn more income. According to program leaders, JSR will give participants the equivalent of six months of job site training in just a few days. They say participants will leave the program feeling confident in their skills, understanding how to work onsite safely and highly marketable for an industry that has a strong need for employees.

“We already have companies that have contacted us regarding access to students who participate in this program,” Harriman said.

The program consists of 30 hours of online modules and 15 hours of onsite hands-on workshop. The modules let students work at their own pace and cover construction topics as well as workplace development. Participants must complete the online portion with a 70% or higher pass rate before they can qualify for the onsite workshop. Interested individuals are encouraged to register by July 7 in order to have ample time to complete the online portion, as the workshop will take place July 17 and 18 at Gallatin College’s campus, 705 Osterman Drive in Bozeman. Current industry professionals, such as Harriman, have built the program’s curriculum and serve as instructors.

Participants will build a tool shed that has the basic framing of a house. Harriman said participants will do everything, including framing floors, walls, windows and doors; installing windows and doors; building the roof and mounting siding.

Graduates of the program could work in a variety of construction fields, such as carpentry, plumbing, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and more. Harriman and Riley Duecker, a consultant for Gallatin College’s new HVAC-R program, will lead the onsite lab.

“Riley and I spent a lot of time in the field, boots on the ground, so we have a good idea of what an employer is looking for,” Harriman said. “If you look through the program modules, they aren’t just construction but also related to general workforce development. How do you communicate with coworkers, and topics like that. Riley and I have a good handle on what the expectation is when you show up on the first day of work.”  

The course is $750 and includes the online instruction, in-person lab workshop and a 20-piece tool set for graduates to utilize and take to their future employment. Scholarship opportunities and early registration rates are also available. For more information and to register, visit gallatin.montana.edu/jsr.html.

Gallatin College MSU is southwest Montana’s two-year college, offering general education, one-year professional certificates and two-year associate degrees. Gallatin College complements the four-year programs at MSU, with a mission of helping individuals fulfill their potential and ensuring access to workforce development that promotes a vibrant local economy.

Saving money for large purchases, such as furniture, a car, a house or a vacation, can be difficult. To help make saving easier, Montana State University Extension has published the MontGuide “Track’n Your Savings Goals.”

The MontGuide discusses different free tools MSU Extension has available to aid individuals in efficiently saving money. One of the tools is the Track’n Your Savings Goals register, a 36-page booklet that fits inside a checkbook. It contains detailed instructions on transforming a checkbook into a budgeting tool, according to Marsha Goetting, MSU Extension family economics specialist.

“It keeps information at your fingertips about the progress you are making toward your savings goals,” she added. “The register also provides you with immediate decision-making opportunities. Yes, I could spend that $100 on fancy sneakers, or I could buy cheaper ones and put the $50 difference towards our goal of a family vacation next summer.”

Goetting said the register was designed for those who want a simple way to track their savings without spending a lot of time and hassle and using multiple systems.

Special savings registers and the MontGuide are available at no charge through funding from the First Interstate BancSystem Foundation and the Montana Credit Unions for Community Development. Order copies at https://store.msuextension.org/. Copies are also available at county and reservation Extension offices.