The Northwest Montana Reading Council
presents

The Back-to-School
Literacy Conference

August 13, 2025

Flathead High School

8:15am to 3:30pm

$40 Full Conference  |  Free with a Student ID

Bookworks in Whitefish will attend with books from the sessions and other educational resources for sale.

2025 Reading Conference Information

Featuring
Deborah Appleman

Keynote Address
time 8:30-10:20am

 

Deborah ApplemanDeborah Appleman is the Hollis L. Caswell Professor of educational studies and director of The Summer Writing Program at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. She has been a visiting professor at Syracuse University and at the University of California-Berkeley. She teaches literature and creative writing classes regularly at a high-security men’s prison in Minnesota. 

Keynote Information

Ms. Appleman will focus her keynote entitled “Finding Community in Critical Conversations about Literature” on her recent work around community and the value of a reasoned approach to determine what literature we value, teach, and discuss at all levels of education. Deborah will offer a breakout session on teaching literature to adolescents and another session, guaranteed to be interesting to teachers of all levels, about her experiences teaching literature in prison and the many lessons that she has learned in the process.

Breakout Sessions

Information Coming Soon

 

More information coming soon

The Northwest Montana Reading Council is comprised of a group of current and retired Montana educators from the greater Kalispell Area, including Whitefish, Columbia Falls and Marion.  As a collective, we believe in supporting educators through empowerment and teacher-supported professional development. 

The council meets several times a year to plan and prepare for the annual conference. If you are interested in joining the council, we are always looking for more enthusiastic educators who love to volunteer their time to bring the best local literacy conference to Northwest Montana educators.

Director: Kelli Higgins

Treasurer: Megan Koppes

Secretary: Leslie DiMaio

Presenter Committee: Dani Burtsfield and Kim Wakefield

Conference Logistics: Sue Brown, Clayton Mauritzen, Betsy Kohnstamm, Aarica Phillips, Michele Paine, Sherri Nissen, Joe Fisher, Alicia Benson, Allie Mitchell, Alison Kreiss, Liz Sykora, and Kami Heinz.

Calendar of Events

Awards

Each year at the conference, the council recognizes certain Educators, who have been nominated by their peers, as outstanding contributors to the growth and development of Northwest Montana Students and Teachers.

The following are the awards celebrated each year: 

Educator of the Year

Administrator of the Year

Support Educator of the Year

Friend of Education

Contact the NWMT Reading Council

Director: Kelli Higgins 

Treasurer: Megan Koppes

Secretary: Leslie DiMaio

Presenter Committee: Dani Burtsfield and Kim Wakefield