It is one thing when administrators tout the benefits of a program. It is totally different when students organize to write a collective guest column and then publish it in five of the state's largest papers.

Maggie Anderson, Gabriel Furshong, Amber Murr, and Peregrine Frissell (current Montana Rural Teacher Project students enrolled in MSU’s Master of Arts in Teaching program) co-authored a piece that has appeared in the Billings GazetteThe MissoulianThe Montana Standard, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, and the Daily Interlake.

The students centered their column around the challenge Montana rural school districts face in recruiting and retaining teachers and how Montana State University has responded. With the online MAT degree program and funding through the MRTP grant, the students shared “the online coursework is cutting edge, and the financial support is game-changing. Next spring, most of us will graduate debt free as fully licensed teachers with masters-level qualifications.”

We invite you to click on the links above and learn how MRTP students are sharing their experience and excitement for educating Montana students. We hope their enthusiasm for the profession and MSU's Master of Arts in Teaching program prompts people in your community to apply.

Photo credit: Jayne Downey