MISSOULA - This week’s One Class at a Time grant winner is Katie Cassidy, who not only teaches Freshman English at Sentinel High School but also leads the Theater Department -- a passion she developed when she was in high school.
"I knew early on in high school when I fell in love with theater,” Cassidy said. “My high school drama teacher, his job was so cool. It would be so amazing to do as a job."
Cassidy will use the $250 grant for her English class to purchase copies of the book, "Code Talker." The novel by Joseph Bruchac is about the real-life Navajo Code Talkers, who used their native language to help confuse the enemy and win World War II.
The book's protagonist came out of a boarding school, which tried to strip him of his culture.
"The beginning of the book is about how they are not allowed to speak their language at the boarding school, they're only allowed to speak English,” Cassidy explained. “That is ultimately what makes these men heroes, their staying true to their culture. And the idea that differences are good."