Secretary of State teaches Havre High students a lesson

Montana Secretary of the State Linda McCulloch explains what her job is to Havre High School government students Wednesday afternoon.

Havre High School seniors in John Ita's government class got a lesson from one of the state of Montana's highest officials.

While in town to speak at the U. S. Postal Service meeting, Secretary of State Linda McCulloch came into two government classes on Wednesday morning and afternoon.

"It was really fun. I love to be in the classroom, " McCulloch said. "Havre has an absolutely wonderful school district and those kids were prepared for the discussion. "

She told the class of graduates-to-be about all of her responsibilities in the state government, including running state and national-level elections, running business services, records management and administrative rules.

The secretary also recounted the trajectory that brought her from seventh-grade student council to her current office.

She started a teacher in Bonner with a passion for politics when she ran for the state Legislature, winning three terms, before becoming the state superintendent for schools, then on to the Secretary of State office.

The road, she said, was full of victories over incumbents so narrow that she earned the nickname "Landslide Linda. "

One of her primary motivations throughout, she said, was being in awe of the power of voting, where everyone has the same amount of say in making the decisions that affect our entire state or country.

And being in a room full of students that are about to have their first opportunity to exercise that power thrilled McCulloch.

"It was great fun to talk about elections and voting with people that are on the brink of voting. "