by Kristen Escovedo

You've probably seen the bumper sticker that says, "I'm not from Texas but I got here as fast as I could." If someone made me the perfect bumper sticker, it would say something like, "I'm not from Texas but there's no way my husband will spend the winter freezing his hat off in Montana, so I'll live here til death do us part."

It's a little wordy for a bumper sticker, I know, but it does describe how this Montana girl ended up in the Lone Star State.

I grew up in what Texans would consider a small town, although it is one of the largest cities in Montana, and it was in that small town that I was educated from kindergarten through twelfth-grade in the fine public schools of Silver Bow County. I still well up with pride as my mind drifts to memories of Longfellow Elementary School, home of the Bombers - oh yes, the Bombers.  Times were different then, and yet very much the same. High stakes tests had not yet entered National scene which meant both less accountability and less stress for teachers, students and parents. But the funding situation looked very much the same and even as an elementary school student I knew it wasn't pretty.