Wise River Educator Gneiting Honored as
Montana’s 2011 “Rural Teacher of the Year”

Rural Teacher of the Year
B.J. Gneiting, recently honored as the 2011 Montana Rural School teacher of the year, is
shown here with her students at the Wise River school. Polly Taylor photo

By Polly Taylor
Dillon Tribune staff
She is a rancher's wife, mother and teacher. "Teaching is a calling.  It is a huge part of my life, and defines who I am," said Montana's 2011 Rural Teacher of the Year, B.J. Gneiting, in a recent interview at Wise River School.  A 33-year veteran of teaching children in grades kindergarten through eight, Gneiting received the honor last Wednesday, in Helena, from Carbon
County Superintendent Jerry Scott, chairman of the Montana Association of County School Superintendents.  Former Beaverhead County Superintendent, Emily Mae Rebish, who nominated the Wise River teacher, and current superintendent,
Linda Marsh, were on hand as Gneiting received her award.  A native of northern Montana, Gneiting went to Western Montana College, majoring in art broadfield, and elementary education. After graduating, she spent three years teaching young children in Idaho, at a very modern K through 12 school, and then accepted a teaching position in Wise River, with nine sixth through eighth grade students. She said, "It was an adjustment, from being very involved with teaching students in grades K through second, going from teaching the very young to middle school students.  They were a lot of fun to teach, and I thoroughly enjoyed it".  Unfortunately, Gneiting became ill, and was advised to stop teaching.  However, she has a stubborn streak and said she was not about to give up doing something she loved. To make a long story short, she proved her doctors wrong, continued teaching, going back to elementaryaged students, and 30 years later she's still making a difference at the Wise River School.
She commented, "Now, I'm teaching children of the students I first taught when I came to work here. It's neat, because
the community really supports this school."  Asked about changes she has witnessed at the school over the past 30 years, Gneiting mentioned the biggest one has been the decline in enrollment at the school.  Technology was also at thetop of the list of changes.  She reminisced about when she had to use a mimeograph machine and the smelly ink, which she doesn't miss. And, of course, computers, the internet, and even on-line classes for advanced students are now in use in Wise River.
Gneiting said that a superintendent asked her last Wednesday, after receiving her award, what she could do to lure the
teacher from Wise River to go to work in her school district.  The Wise River teacher said, "Nothing. I love where I
am, I love my students, and I could never go to work in a city school."  She added, "I don't believe in shotgun teaching where emphasis is put on students who are not high achievers, and the smarter kids are left to figure things out on their own.  In a
school like Wise River, teaching is individualized, each students' needs are assessed, and we help students excel in academics
as well as sports. Students are taught to understand their own strengths."  Gneiting is the wife of Melrose rancher Robert Gneiting, and they have a daughter, Heather, who is an attorney, living with her own family in Virginia, and a son, Jeremy, who
is a fishing guide in Wise River.