Around the region: Juneau honored, storm damage checked

Montana's superintendent of public schools is continuing to make her mark on the national stage.

Denise Juneau is the first Native American female to be elected to statewide office in the country and was a speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. She can now add human and civil rights award-winner to her resume after she accepted the Leo Reano Memorial Award from the National Education Association last week.

She was one of about a dozen leaders across the country to receive human and civil rights awards from NEA and was recognized specifically for her work with Indian Education for All and efforts to close the achievement gap between Native and non-Native students across Montana.

"It was pretty humbling," Juneau said.

She was nominated by Eric Feaver, president of the Montana Education Association-Montana Federation of Teachers. The Leo Reano Memorial Award is given to NEA-NFT members who promote equal education opportunities for Native American students and coordinates training programs for educators and counselors working with Native American students.

Feaver said Juneau's leadership was critical when the Schools of Promise program launched in 2011. Its goal was to improve some of Montana's poorest performing school districts, which all happened to be on or near reservations. Leadership in those schools had to be overhauled in addition to more money being funneled in to promote improved achievement, but also address serious mental health concerns in those impoverished communities. It required memorandums of understanding on the changes to be adopted by local teacher's unions.

"Without her leadership there is no way we would have gotten involved," Feaver said.

Juneau said through the Schools of Promise program, the Graduation Matters initiative and her student advisory council, she's always been advocating for opportunities for Native American students to achieve. It has to do with her own upbringing. She an enrolled member of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes as well as a descendant of the Blackfeet Tribe. She was raised in Browning by two parents who were educators. She went on to get her bachelor's degree from Montana State University, a master's degree from Harvard and her law degree from the University of Montana who worked as the director of the Indian Education for All program once it received full legislative funding (her mom, former State Sen. Carol Juneau, led the charge).

"When I stand in front of Montana's American Indian students and say to them your dreams are possible, you can get to where you want to go, they know it's not an empty promise," Juneau said during her acceptance speech at the NEA awards reception.

Storm damage assessment continues

A day after a storm ripped through Liberty and Hill counties, the damage estimates are beginning.

In Liberty County, north of Chester, one mobile home was destroyed and a couple of grain bins were collapsed, along with severe crop damage for some, Liberty County Sheriff Doug Riggins said.

"It was a nasty storm," he said.

Several other properties had wind and hail damage and the storm was so strong it even blew over some heavy farm machinery on one piece of property. Sunday meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Great Falls visited the area to determine if in fact the funnel cloud people saw turned into a tornado. It didn't appear likely Sunday, but the straight winds of 70 miles per hour carried damage on into Hill County.

Power outages were widespread, but Hill County Disaster and Emergency Services Manager Dave Sheppard said there was only one small portion of Hill County Electric Co-op customers near Chinook still without power Monday morning. There were a lot of broken windows, damaged exteriors and some empty BNSF grain train cars knocked off their tracks. But no injuries have thankfully been reported yet, Sheppard said.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Kristen Cates at 791-1463 or kcates@greatfallstribune.com. Follow her on Twitter @GFTrib_KCates.