Dylan Huisken, the 2019 Montana Teacher of the Year, vividly remembers the first teacher who transformed his struggles into skills, questions into insights, and a blank page into art. This feeling of empowerment drove Huisken to pursue a degree in history and education, and it is the same feeling he strives to instill in his students at Bonner Middle School every day.

Huisken has been teaching history for ten years, with the last five at Bonner Middle School. He began his career as a social studies teacher on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, where he worked for three years before moving to Missoula to earn his Master of Arts in History from the University of Montana. While at the University of Montana, Huisken taught American and Western history as a teaching assistant and authored a thesis on the appropriation of the Dakota language by missionaries who sought to assimilate native students. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from South Dakota State University, where he also minored in Spanish.

In addition to teaching, Huisken coaches quiz bowl students, advises the school’s student council, and helps families organize fundraisers for the 8th grade’s annual field trip to Washington, DC. Although he teaches eras from the Stone Age to the late 1800s, his biggest passions are Native American history and the abolitionist movement. Above all, Huisken is dedicated to fostering a love for history in his students by making them feel welcomed, curious, and empowered.