“One Class at a Time” honors a Billings Senior High School teacher

Billings, Montana – Meet Tani McKeever, a special education teacher who enjoys bringing her pupils to engaging learning settings like the Audubon Center instead of just the classroom.

“We go once a week,” said Miss McKeever. “We work with the preschoolers and so we’re doing a science experiment with decomposition. In our garden, we kept a pumpkin and it’s decomposing in our room. When we went out for the first time with the preschoolers, they started one on the outside and we’re doing a compare and contrast of if you are decomposing inside or outside. We do that kind of stuff and we do volunteer work. The last time we were there, we filled up the bird feeders. We’ve done garbage pickup out there.”

Her children adore visiting the animal shelter as well.

“Every other week, we take a bunch of kids down and this last time we took our books. The kittens and the cats don’t like enthusiastic stuff so we sat next to the cages, stood next to the cages, and read stories to them and it was so fun. They had a really shy cat come out and got really close to one of our students and he just kept reading away. Some girls were standing, reading the books, and the kittens came up to the kennel and put their paws out. It’s just a nice way to build empathy and an awareness that everybody needs kindness.”

Q2, The Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools, City Brew Coffee, and Western Security Bank have partnered on “One Class at a Time.” Teachers who go above and above to support their pupils are recognized by the program.

McKeever genuinely cares about her pupils and wants everyone to realize what wonderful people they are.

“Everybody has difficult areas and for kids with disabilities, like in the special ed setting, their disabilities, their difficult areas are just more evident, but when you get beyond that they have abilities and gifts. There’s so much I learn everyday from my own students and I hope they learn from me every day.”

McKeever received a $500 grant from the Education Foundation for Billings Public Schools, which is proudly sponsored by Western Security Bank, as well as a $150 gift card from City Brew Coffee, for being a teacher who would go to any lengths for her kids.