He has a master of fine arts degree in creative writing from the University of Montana, and is 46 years old. Equipped with tape recorders, notebooks, video cameras, healthy curiosity and good will, Montana Heritage Project students in small towns all across Montana are documenting the true riches of the Treasure State - its people's cultural past, Umphrey said. The idea behind the project is deceptively simple. As schools become more community centered, communities start to become more education centered. The young and the old work together to understand their history.
Kids are motivated.
Teachers are invigorated. He reflected a moment. D.C. Ortenberg told Billington there was much to value in Montana. But he was concerned that Montana was losing its sense of self. They convened a statewide conference of stakeholders in Montana's culture and history, and invited Alan Jabbour, director of the American Folklife Center for the Library of Congress to suggest a framework that would involve students, teachers and others in small communities in a collaboration to preserve Montana's heritage while there was still time.