School teacher throws hat in ring for C-Falls city council

A Columbia Falls High School teacher has thrown her hat in the ring for this year’s city elections.

Jenny Lovering teaches social studies, English, government and psychology. She moved to Columbia Falls in 1998 and has been teaching at the high school since 1999.

“When I teach, I encourage my students to participate in class, and democracy needs participation,” she said. “I want to put into practice what I teach.”

Married with two children attending Columbia Falls schools, Lovering grew up in Michigan and got her bachelor’s in history at the University of Michigan. She got her master’s in education from the University of Montana-Missoula.

Lovering reached the pinnacle of her teaching career when she achieved National Board Certification in 2011. There are about 100 board-certified teachers in Montana.

Outside of school, Lovering became involved in local community service by helping the First Best Place organization with its annual Showcase fundraising event. She is now the volunteer director for the Community Garden at River’s Edge Park. Lovering says she wouldn’t live anywhere else in the valley.

“I chose to live in Columbia Falls, my children go to school here,” she said. “You feel a sense of connectedness here, immediacy, you see changes right in front of you. Your neighbor could be on the city council.”

Lovering says she has no agenda and feels the job of a city councilor is to represent the people.

“I’ve learned a lot from running the Community Garden — it’s a very democratic process,” she explained.

She says it would be interesting to be teaching government while actually being a member of government. City council meetings would provide great material for her to use in class, she said.

While Lovering says the city should capitalize on its proximity to Glacier Park and encourage more businesses to come to Columbia Falls, she’d also like to see the sense of community remain the same. She loves that Columbia Falls is a “walkable” town.

“I don’t want to change Columbia Falls, but I want to see it grow and become a place where my children and students can return to live and work,” she said.

Lovering said she’s happy to learn about new businesses coming to town, like SmartLam, and she supports city manager Susan Nicosia’s efforts to bring commercial lodging to Columbia Falls. She’d also like to see more commercial growth on Nucleus Avenue.

“I don’t see Columbia Falls becoming a Whitefish,” she said, “but it’s a great jumping off point for outdoor recreation. We need to keep Columbia Falls vital by combining industry and tourism without losing the character of Columbia Falls, which is the reason we moved here.”

Filing ended June 27. Mayor Don Barnhart filed for re-election, as did councilors Shawn Bates, Mike Shepard and Dave Petersen.