Montana State and Little Big Horn College receive $1.7 million to support American Indian educators on path to leadership

BOZEMAN - Nine-tenths of education is encouragement.

Kari McKay, assistant principal at Browning High School and a member of the Blackfeet Nation, signs each email with this adage. Her role requires her to wear many hats - counselor, substitute teacher, cook, hallway monitor, authority figure - but the most rewarding is being a source of encouragement. She said students may not know where their next meal will come from or where to go after school, but they know when they enter the high school, "Miss McKay" will greet them with a smile and a high five.

"I'm teaching these kids that just because you come from this kind of background, whether it's poverty or trauma, that doesn't have to define who you become," she said. "They see that somebody from our community has succeeded and think, 'I can do that too.'"

To spread encouragement in her current role, McKay first had to receive it from a program that fosters the connection between American Indian educators and their communities and cultivates leaders who already possess the institutional and cultural knowledge to support their schools.

Montana State University's Indian Leadership Education and Development program allows educators to pursue a master's degree in educational leadership or an education specialist degree, qualifying for state licensure while continuing their teaching careers. ILEAD students can also become eligible to earn a superintendent certificate through the program. McKay is one of more than 130 educators to graduate from ILEAD, which is housed in the College of Education, Health and Human Development, since the program's inception in 2006.

Over the next five years, ILEAD plans to recruit and enroll 30 new students with a $1.7 million grant from the Department of Education's Office of Indian Education, which was awarded in September. A group of educators will begin their studies in the spring, and most will take about two years to earn their degree, said program director Jason Cummins.

The last ILEAD group graduated in 2019, supported by $1.3 million in federal funding. This year marks the fifth time ILEAD and its partner, Little Big Horn College in Crow Agency, have received the ILEAD grant.

"When I look back on my educational journey as I was growing up, I don't remember any Native American administrators," McKay said. "It's important to promote and encourage Native leadership. I plan to retire one day, and it would be nice to know there are more Native leaders coming behind me to continue this legacy."

For students who commit to working as administrators in school districts with a high proportion of American Indian students for two years, ILEAD covers tuition, fees, books and a stipend to offset summer housing costs. Since ILEAD's first group graduated in 2009, about 90% of graduates have accepted leadership roles in school districts with large populations of American Indian students across the Northern Plains region. ILEAD graduates have become superintendents, directors, principals and assistant principals, like McKay.

Before she enrolled in ILEAD, McKay was a counselor at Browning Elementary School. Whenever the principal attended business outside the school, McKay was left in charge. She said she felt that she needed more training to confidently step into the position, a supplement to her master's degree in school counseling from MSU Northern. She found ILEAD as she was transitioning into single motherhood, and it met her need for cost-effective education.

As part of ILEAD's Class of 2015, McKay learned about school law, finance, support systems for teachers and more, both online and through in-person instruction offered once a week across Montana. During the summer, students took classes at MSU's Bozeman campus, engaging with each other and a curriculum informed by scholars, tribal elders and current American Indian administrators.

"Anybody who's been through MSU's leadership program will tell you that the professional network they create lasts for decades," said Cummins, who was a part of ILEAD's first group. "The connections they make continue, and iron sharpens iron. In administrative roles you assist one another, and that's leadership."

Calli Rusche-Nicholson, a member of the Fort Peck Nakoda (Assiniboine) tribe who graduated from ILEAD in 2009, said she found a sense of belonging with her classmates. Rusche-Nicholson, now the director of Indigenous education for Billings Public Schools, didn't have to look far for a reminder of home.

She and her mother were part of the same ILEAD group and graduated together, the latest family members in a line of educators that began with Rusche-Nicholson's grandmother. She said the importance of education in her family propelled her to enroll in ILEAD while teaching fourth grade at Miles Avenue Elementary in Billings.

"My grandma was very proud of us, seeing my mom and me graduate with our master's degrees. She said, 'Now you two need to get your doctorates,'" Rusche-Nicholson said, laughing.

In her current role, Rusche-Nicholson facilitates peer mentorship for Native students and oversees implementation of the Indian Education for All Act, which mandates that students learn about the heritage of American Indians in a culturally responsive way. Rusche-Nicholson said it's important for Native students to feel like they belong and can succeed, considering Billings is home to the highest population of urban Indigenous students in Montana. Empowering students creates citizens who strengthen their communities.

"ILEAD's new grant will be an amazing asset for our Indigenous educators ready to take that next step, whether it's actually becoming a leader or having that teacher leadership role," Rusche-Nicholson said. "Both are important to ensure that our students are achieving at high rates and that we're infusing Indian Education for All into all content areas across the state."

ILEAD not only impacts student success, but it also changes educators' lives as well, said McKay. Nine years post-graduation, she was awarded Montana Assistant Principal of the Year for 2024-25.

"I'm indebted to ILEAD," she said. "Without that program, I don't think I would be where I'm at. I don't think I would feel as successful as I feel."