Jennifer Powell, Montana History Teacher of the Year;
Jennifer Powell has been selected as the 2024 Centennial Bell Montana History Teacher of the Year. Powell is a seventh grade social studies teacher at Corvallis Middle School where she has demonstrated an exceptional dedication to education and a deep passion for imparting knowledge of Montana history to her students.
“One of Jennifer’s most notable strengths is her ability to create dynamic and engaging learning environments that foster her students’ critical thinking, curiosity, and love of history,” fellow teacher Darcy Herbstritt wrote in her recommendation letter. “She has an incredible talent for bringing history to life and making it relevant to her students’ lives.”
Powell, who has taught history in Corvallis for five years, loves teaching her students about how Montana came to be and then “digging” into the past, studying Montana’s dinosaurs and prehistoric ancestors.
“One of the reasons I chose to teach history was to expose my students to cultural diversity,” Powell wrote. “Montana remains a melting pot, so I feel it is very important to expose my students to many ideas, backgrounds, and cultures.”
The intensive also includes an annual trip taking 40 students to Wyoming’s Heart Mountain Internment Camp, where students learn about the impact of diversity, especially during wartime.
“My classroom encourages many conversations that we are all different and come from different backgrounds and beliefs, but we still have the same needs and desires for acceptance, friendship, and love,” she wrote. “I am honored to be nominated for the Montana Statehood Centennial Bell Award.”
Her students clearly enjoy learning Montana history from Powell.
“She makes Montana history fun, keeping us engaged and entertained while also teaching us so much we don’t even realize it,” wrote Blakely Borden, one of Powell’s students.
Powell will receive $3,250 from the event’s sponsors, Montana Television Network and the Sons and Daughters of Montana Pioneers. The funds can be used for class materials, guest speakers, field trips or any other purpose that enhances student learning. Other supporters of the project are the Montana Historical Society and the 1889 Coffeehouse in Helena.
Powell and her students will ring the Centennial Bell at 10:29 a.m. on Nov. 8, the exact moment Montana became the 41st state in 1889. Montana State High Schools Trustee Norma Ashby Smith established the award in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Montana statehood.
