Ronan High School vocational agriculture teacher Casey Lunceford is among 18 educators across the nation who were selected as recipients of a 2021 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.
As part of the prize, Lunceford will be awarded $15,000 and his program will receive $35,000. He also received a Yellow U.S. General mechanics tool cart with a customized panel commemorating the award.
Lunceford is the first teacher from Montana to claim one of the Harbor Freight awards, which were first presented in 2017.
Matthew Phillips White Sulphur Springs High School, class of 2021 (enrollment 71)
Matthew graduated from White Sulphur Springs High School, a school with 71 students, this past spring as co-valedictorian with high honors. A previous principal was instrumental in introducing first his older brother and sister to MTDA and Matthew was eager to follow suit.
He started taking classes from MTDA his freshman year because he wanted to push himself further. Over his high school career, Matthew took 21 MTDA courses, ranging from American History, English III, and Creative Writing to finishing up with AP Calculus, AP Computer Science, and Joy and Beauty of Computing (Dual Credit) this spring.
Upon graduation this spring, he sent a note to all of his MTDA teachers,
“Thank you so much for all that you have done for those, like me, that wanted to push themselves further than traditional classes at their schools would have allowed. I hope that you continue your work, and know that you definitely helped me gain a higher education than I would have otherwise in high school. Once again, thank you so much for your hard work and dedication to the students.”
Matthew is now attending Montana State on a full-ride scholarship (the Bair Family Scholarship), studying Computer Science with plans to work in software development.
Audrey Oltrogge Stanford High School, Class of 2019
Audrey graduated from Stanford High School, a school with an enrollment of 30, in 2019. Her guidance counselor introduced Audrey and many of her classmates to MTDA to expand their academic options with a wider variety of courses than a school this size could offer locally. Stanford also supported these students by providing study hall periods and local teacher support.
As a result, Audrey took ten MTDA courses over all four years of high school, eight of which were world languages. She credits these language courses for broadening her global perspective and for getting into two different study abroad programs, including the Congressional Bundestag Youth Exchange in Germany where she spent her gap year.
Audrey became the very first student in Montana to be awarded a scholarship from the nationally recognized Future of School organization. This scholarship rewards students for their courage to forge new learning pathways using online learning to enhance their academic success. Future of School required recipients to submit a self-produced video describing their education challenges and successes. Audrey’s can be viewed at https://www.futureof.school/student-stories/audrey-oltrogge
Today Audrey continues her studies at the University of Utah, majoring in anthropology with an archaeological science emphasis. She plans to stay in school for a masters program and then work for the BLM or forest service.
“I highly encourage anyone who has the opportunity to take online courses; they open doors for you that you would not have had otherwise, and if you have the chance, taking these courses can change your life in many different ways.”
Per our academic calendars, MTDA will be closed October 17-18, 2019, for the statewide professional development and teacher conference week. Closed means that:
The MTDA offices in Missoula are closed until 8 am, Monday, October 21, 2019.
The MTDA support desk will be lightly monitored for emergencies. Helpdesk services will be fully active again at 8 am, Monday, October 21, 2019.
Teachers are not expected to answer emails during the break. However, some/many will likely track email.
Grading services for credit recovery will not be available.
Attention all users: Per our academic calendar, MTDA offices are closed from July 4 to July 7 for Independence Day. During that time, teachers will be delayed in returning emails and the office staff will not be available.
MTDA staff will lightly monitor the MTDA helpdesk, however, users should expect to receive answers on July 8th, when offices reopen.
Online classrooms will remain open during the entire break.
We wish you and yours a wonderful Independence Day weekend!
Montana Digital Academy’s offices will be closed from 5:00 pm, Friday, May 24, 2018, until 8:00 am on Tuesday, May 28, 2017. During that time, there will be no teacher services or help desk services available.
Please send any questions to the support desk, support@montanadigitalacademy.org. Questions and concerns will be answered when the offices open on Tuesday.
Per our posted academic calendar, MTDA is closed from April 19 to April 22. During that time, no teacher services are available including the credit recovery grading service.
The MTDA administrative offices will remain open, as will the help desk.
Montana Digital Academy offices will be closed on Monday, February 18, 2019, for President’s Day. No teacher services are available on that day and the help desk will not be monitored. Our online classrooms will remain open!
Per our academic calendar, enrollment is closed for our high school original credit program for Spring 2019. We will announce summer and fall high school original credibility enrollment and availability later this spring!
Attention all students enrolled in Pre-Calculus A, a dual credit course from Montana Digital Academy with credit available from Missoula College:
We are working through the process this week for Pre-Calculus students to apply for college credit offered in this course through our valued partner, Missoula College of the University of Montana. The dual credit process is between the local school and Missoula College, but, we do help facilitate by initiating this process between you and Montana Digital Academy. College credit is available to students that take both semesters of the MTDA Pre-Calculus course, fall and spring.
Some paperwork from students and their parents, plus participating schools, will be required.
By THIS Friday, January 11, 2019, students should email Nora Sutherland, MTDA Administrative Associate, nora.sutherland@montanadigitalacademy.org, to let her know you are interested in taking this course for the college credit. From there, we will connect with you to discuss next steps!
After this Friday, the dual credit option will no longer be available, so, please be sure to contact us immediately.
Montana Digital Academy Phyllis J. Washington College of Education The University of Montana 32 Campus Drive – Room 365 Missoula, Montana 59812 Phone: 406-203-1812 Fax: 406-203-1815
Ronan High School vocational agriculture teacher Casey Lunceford is among 18 educators across the nation who were selected as recipients of a 2021 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.
