The nearly 70 business people, state legislators and city officials who participated in Educator for a Day are commended for taking the time from their busy schedules to look inside our local public schools. They committed their time to gaining the insight that is vital to engaging the community in supporting and changing our schools to deliver quality education to every student.

At a lunch discussion, several Educator for a Day participants described impressive demonstrations of how teachers and students are using podcasts, distance learning and other technology in their daily lessons. However, most classrooms in Billings don’t have that technology. Billings has many more students than computers in its public schools.

State Rep. Ken Peterson, who spent the morning at Rose Park, said he is concerned with the lack of technology tools for some teachers and added that “some of our buildings may need upgrading, too.”

Kellee Fisk of Billings Clinic visited McKinley, where she saw the school working to meet basic student needs for good nutrition with healthy snacks. She also noted deficiencies in the old boiler and basement.

“We have some real infrastructure needs that we have to get our arms around to provide an appropriate learning environment for the students,” Fisk said.

Wayne Nelson of Stockman Bank visited West High. He saw students and teachers working hard, but noted lack of resources in classrooms, such as science rooms without lab stations and computer rooms with inadequate ventilation.

Home builder Jeff Junkert, who visited Burlington, spoke of the importance of community engagement with and support for schools. When families consider a move to Billings, the first thing they look at is the schools, he said.

As Junkert said: “The vibrancy and growth of our city depend on our school system.”