Education

EdReady, is a curriculum from the National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. It is designed to improve the academic readiness of students for academic and career success with the ultimate goal of greatly reducing the number of youth required to take remedial courses in college.

In 2014, The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation made a generous donation to the Montana Digital Academy (MTDA) at The University of Montana so that it could launch the statewide version of the EdReady program, EdReady Montana.

EdReady Montana is a Math readiness tool available at no cost to Montana schools from middle school through college. Any student can work with the MTDA to use existing assessments or set up custom program to measure math readiness for a variety of educational goals, and then study the online resources in their custom study path. In the next year, English will be added to the EdReady Montana program.

The Washington’s believe that Montana’s children must achieve at higher levels if they are to fulfill their own dreams and compete in a global workforce.

The Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation has been a partner of the Horatio Alger Scholarship Association since 2004. Each year the Foundation supports fifty $5,000 scholarships for students attending the University of Montana and Montana State University or one of their affiliates. This scholarship is matched by the university and the Horatio Alger Association contributes $2,000 for a total scholarship of $12,000 disbursed over the course of the recipient’s college career.

The Dennis R. Washington Achievement Scholarship is available to Horatio Alger Scholars nationwide. This prestigious graduate scholarship allows recipients to receive up to $90,000 to complete a Ph.D. program and up to $60,000 to complete a master’s degree program.

Named after the 19th century author, Horatio Alger, Jr., The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc. was founded in 1947 to inspire the nation’s youth to continue to strive for the American Dream.

The Association is dedicated to the belief that “hard work, honesty, and determination can conquer all obstacles” and it continues today, to educate America’s youth on the opportunities, both personal and economic, available to them through the American free enterprise system.

The iGraduate Montana initiative is in partnership with the Office of Public Instruction and the Montana Department of Labor and Industry to leverage the successes and lessons learned from Graduation Matters Montana.

iGraduate Montana seeks to increase high school graduation and expand workforce development activities, such as connecting students to high-demand career pathways, and/or post-high school education opportunities.

The Phyllis J. Washington College of Education is home to three academic departments, Counseling, Educational Leadership and Teaching & Learning. The Phyllis J. Washington College of Education is also home to the University of Montana Safe Schools Center, National Natives Children’s Trauma Center (NNCTC), The Learning and Belong (LAB) Preschool, and Montana Digital Academy (MTDA).  The College shapes professional individuals that become the teachers and do-ers of our society.

Reading Rocks is designed to help students continue reading over the summer when reading levels are known to drop.  Reading Rocks provides children with free books, reading mentorship, and story telling by community leaders to keep children engaged in reading while away from school.

The Flagship Program provides out of school time opportunities for youth in eight Missoula County Public Schools from Kindergarten through 12th grade. As a program of Western Montana Mental Health Center, Flagship offers a school-based experience in mentoring and skill building. The program focuses on four core components: academic achievement, health and wellness, art and culture, and social emotional development.

Coding for Kids of the Bitterroot Valley is designed for students grades 1-12 to explore science and technology through practical and interactive methods. Their classess focus on practical, experiential learning with active student participation, whether that be building a robot to deliver a package, learning to fly a drone, filming a story, collecting real data to construct a map … or so many other technology-based activities.

The Montana World Affairs Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering global understanding and awareness in Montana’s communities and classrooms.