1. Need

In 1930, there were 3,572 school districts in Montana; today there are fewer than 500, and the numbers continue to decrease; one prediction calls for the loss of an additional district, on average, every year for the next ten years. [1] Each closure represents a loss to a community, and to a state whose rural school system is linked closely to its heritage of independent farms and ranches. As agriculture becomes an increasingly difficult way to make a living and feed a family, farms and ranches are no longer passed from one generation to another. Young people move to urban areas for greater job opportunities, leaving rural school districts no choice but to consolidate and to close school buildings no longer needed.

The rural school was, and still is, a unique institution, from the physical isolation of the structure, often miles from the nearest house (and, sometimes, more than fifty miles from the nearest town), to the social isolation of the dedicated young women and men who have taught there since the legislature established a "Common School System for Montana Terrritory" in 1865. The degree of student-teacher interaction is unique in the smaller schools. In the 1998-1999 school year, 68 school districts had only one full-time staff member, and 49 of those districts had 9 or fewer students.[2] This implies not only a high degree of individual attention to students, but an opportunity for the teacher to understand each of her students as an individual. Another advantage often cited is a high degree of cooperation, with older students helping younger ones, and parents taking an active role in school activities and adminstration.

In an earlier time, the rural school was often a place of social gathering; its existence represented a focal point for the surrounding community. Often, the closing of the school was a sign that the community, itself, was coming to an end. But the heritage of Montana's rural schools is still alive. In every part of the state, women and men now in their 70's, 80's and 90's have stories to tell and are thrilled by the opportunity to relate their personal history to an appreciate audience. Many of these stories have already been collected through oral history programs at the Montana Historical Society and the University of Montana, but oral history cannot show the excitement on the faces of our senior citizens when they know that their stories will be preserved for future generations, and oral history cannot interweave historical pictures and present day images for a deeper appreciation and understanding on the part of the viewer.

It is also important to note that our rural schools are not watching the 21^st Century pass them buy. Students are encouraged to reach out both to the past and to the future. In one county, students reached into the past by researching historical photographs of every past and present schoolhouse in the county and erecting an educational display that anyone can view in the county courthouse. In another county, students are encouraged to interview senior citizens who taught in the schools in an earlier time. Not only do the students gain understanding of, and respect for, their elders, but they also begin to comprehend the inevitability of change, however disconcerting that change may be. Reaching out to the future is readily illustrated by the small satellite dishes attached to the walls of many rural schools, and the Internet access that is being provided to schools across the state.

Another, less obvious, part of Montana's rural heritage is the creativity of its people in making use of former school buildings. Many have been relocated at least once. The list of creative uses is highly diverse: private residence, restaurant, community hall, garage, photo studio, bed-and-breakfast, museum display and others yet to be discovered.

This hour-long documentary will help to preserve the heritage of Montana's rural schools through a combination of historical photographs, video of schools, and former schools, in their present state, interviews with administrators, teachers and students who either taught in or attended rural schools in the first half of the 20^th Century, and comments by educators with respect to the future of rural education in Montana. Video will also be used to portray to the viewer the rugged beauty and isolation which surround many rural schools even today.

2. Purpose or Goals

This documentary seeks to preserve for the future an important part of Montana's heritage. The examination of the rural school tradition will be not only descriptive and accurate, but educational and entertaining. Schoolchildren in every district in the state will have an opportunity to better understand their past and cope with the future. The contributions of teachers and administrators who have devoted a lifetime to rural education will be available for future generations. Production values will be maintained at a high level, allowing the documentary to be submitted to regional public television stations and to selected film and video festivals. Viewers around the country will be exposed to positive values that are important to the people of our state, helping to dispel misconceptions generated from negative publicity in the recent past. The documentary will also have an indirect benefit on tourism in Montana, especially in rural areas, as people visit us to view reminders of a nostalgic past no longer available in the large urban communities where most of them live.

3. Major Tasks

Pre-production (Planning). Since it is not feasible from a cost and time standpoint to visit and conduct interviews in every rural school district in the state, representative districts will be selected from the western, central and eastern parts of the state, with the assistance of the Montana Association of County School Superintendents (MACSS). This task is presently in progress at a low level of activity.

Production (Videotaping / Interviewing). Preliminary interviews in Blaine, Chouteau, Lake, Missoula and Custer counties have already taken place as part of the Planning stage of the project. Once grant funding is available, full scale production can begin. A few interviews will be conducted prior to grant funding where the advanced age of the person being interviewed is a major consideration, or the continued existence of an historical structure is in doubt.

Post-production (Editing). Tape logging and interview transcription occurs simultaneously with Production. Full scale editing will begin as videotaping and interviewing conclude.

Distribution (see Section 4. - Publicity and Accessibility).

4. Publicity and Accessibility

Copies will be available to every school district in Montana at no charge to the districts. The MACSS, as official sponsor of this project, will insure the widest possible dissemination of this documentary to the schoolchildren of the state.

The Montana Historical Society will receive a copy of the completed video and a copy of interview transcripts for their library and archives.

The video will be available for sale to libraries and bookstores throughout the country. Review copies will be sent to appropriate magazines, e.g. Library Journal.

The video will be submitted to regional public television stations for possible broadcast. At a minimum, stations in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Wyoming and the Dakotas will be contacted.

The video will be submitted to selected film and video festivals throughout the country.

It is hoped that a closed-caption version of the documentary can be generated for the hearing impaired.

5. Evaluation - statistical measures of accomplishment based directly on Purpose and Goals

The number of Montana students viewing the documentary in the school year following release of the video.
The number of scheduled viewings on public television stations.
The number of film and video festivals presenting the documentary.
The number of libraries and out-of-state organizations purchasing the documentary.

In addition, liason will be maintained with the MACSS to obtain feedback from teachers and administrators that could prove valuable to future documentary efforts. Travel Montana will also be contacted to determine if there exists a methodology that attempts to measure visitor interest in our state in subjective areas such as "history", "rural values" or "nostalgia for the past."
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[1] Statistics provided by Nielson, Office of Public Instruction, quoted in Greene, "Schools: Creative Partnerships Abound", Great Falls Tribune, October 24, 1999.
[2] Morton, The 1998-99 Montana Rural Teacher Salary and Benefits Survey, Montana Small Schools Alliance, pp. 1,2.

Joel Shechter
JOSH Productions
1-888-995-8433 (voicemail/pager)
seemontana@montana.com