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Yellow bus tour hits Conrad |
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Wednesday, 10 October 2007 |
By Buck Traxler, I-O Editor
 SPECIAL VISITOR – From the left, Linda McCulloch, Superintendent of Montana Schools and 10 of her staff paid a visit to Conrad schools as part of her Yellow Bus tour of area schools. With her was Tara Jensen, Deputy Communications Director at OPI in Helena. Next to her is her father, Greg Jensen, Principal at PVS School. Tara went through the Conrad school system and on to the UofM-Missoula where she graduated with a degree in Political Science. I-O Photo by Buck Traxler
She began these tours about six years ago and she and her staff travel to school districts to her school officials’ goals and concerns, as well as talk to students.
McCulloch usually takes 4-5 trips a year on buses donated by school bus contractors.
Besides Conrad, her tour took McCulloch to Chester-JI, Rudyard and Gilford.
One of her highlights was a stop at the Conrad Transportation and Historical Museum where she and her staff viewed the special mosaic made by students in Wayne Anderson’s art class at CHS.
Four of the students who worked on the year-long project that contains 2,140 pieces, Ashley Beckham, Ashley Fetters, Sinda Gustafson and Stephanie Bailly were able to be at the museum to help answer questions on the project.
Students in former Social Studies instructor Jeff Makelky’s class also have a display in the Museum on Gallup City and the oil fields which was viewed by the head of OPI. George Erickson was on hand to explain about that project.
While at Utterback Middle School, McCulloch learned about the bully-prevention program at the school and viewed student Ag projects at PVS.
Also of local interest was that Deputy Communications Director at the Montana Office of Public Instruction, Tara Jensen was one of the staff on the tour.
She is the daughter of Greg Jensen (Joan), the new principal at Prairie View School.
She went through the Conrad school system and graduated from the UofM-Missoula with a degree in Political Science. Before going to the OPI in Helena, she worked for Senator Max Baucus in his Missoula office, and went to work in Washington, D.C.
Thursday was kind of a mini-working family reunion for the father-daughter.
McCulloch, because of term limits, cannot run for office again. “Our instructors do an amazing job of teaching our kids,” she commented.
She is not in favor of year-round schools saying that students need some time off from the classroom, “to be kids.”
She also felt that too many tests were being administered to students and one was able (Iowa Basic) to be dropped.
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