She is originally from El Paso, TX but her dad was born in raised in this area. He went to Baker High School and had classes in her classroom! Her mom is from Colombia, so she is half-5th generation Montanan and half-Colombiana. She lives on a beautiful poultry (and cattle) ranch south of town and has three kids, Lukas, Rye, and Erika.
Awards
Linda Rost is the 2020 Montana Teacher of the Year and a 2019 Montana Teacher of the Year Finalist. She has won a variety of other awards, including the Vernier Engineering Contest Grant ($5000), Continental Cares Grant ($5500), Ekalaka Public Schools Teacher of the Year (2012), Junior Science and Humanities Teacher Award - two times (2011 & 2012), Educational Testing Service (ETS) Recognition of Excellence (2009), Society for Petroleum Engineers Grant Winner (6 times), 2023 NEA Award for Teaching Excellence for Montana.
Leadership
She is also a certified Montana Partnerships with Regions for Excellence in STEM (MPRES) trainer, which is a program that offers classes and workshops to Montana teachers in the new Montana Science Standards. She is a member of the Northwest Earth and Space Sciences Pipeline (NESSP) grant, which also offers science standards trainings to Montana teachers. Mrs. Rost is also a participant in the Bringing Research into the Classroom (BRIC) program of Montana Tech, which involves students in microbiology and phage discovery research, and is now serving as a key personnel on the BRIC-2 grant. She is a member of the National Science Teacher's Association and the Montana Science Teacher's Association. She served on the writing team for the new Montana Science Standards in the fall of 2015, and is currently a member of the Montana science assessment task force, Strengthening Claims-based Interpretations and Uses of Local and Large-scale Science Assessment Scores (SCILLSS), which is a project tasked with developing a new science assessment for the new Montana Science standards. She is currently serving on the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Student Assessment. She has presented at numerous conferences and workshops, including the National Science Teachers Association STEM Meetings in Minneapolis, MN in May 2015.
Quotes
Pursue a passion that causes a revolution in your soul. - Linda Rost
Educational Philosophy
To learn science and engineering, students must be doing it. In fact, they should be the scientists and engineers. We have a mountain to climb that I have climbed before, so I know which side to scale and can anticipate all the ledges. I am there to guide and assist their explorations, while pointing out the magnificent scenery along the way, and enjoying the incredible view once we get to the top.