Eight local teachers are part of the inaugural class of 12 instructors from around the state inducted into the Montana Digital Academy Teacher Hall of Fame.  

The Teacher Hall of Fame Class of 2025 includes Columbia Falls High School teachers Becky Bates and Jenny Lovering; Glacier High School teachers Aaron Denney, Adam Harbaugh, Stephanie Hill and Anthony Lapke; Flathead High School teacher Chris Putzler and Kalispell Middle School teacher Lynne Rider.  

The hall of fame honors teachers, “who have served as the program's guiding light.” The 2009 Montana Legislature established the distance education program in partnership with public schools. Public school teachers throughout the state teach Montana Digital Academy classes. 

The online academy is meant to supplement middle and high school curriculum offerings, particularly in rural schools that may not have the staff or funding to offer them otherwise, such as Advanced Placement or dual credit programs. Academy instructors must be employed by a Montana public school district. Most inductees are full-time classroom teachers or administrators in their local communities while simultaneously providing expert instruction through the academy’s distance learning program.  

Bates started teaching algebra at the academy in 2010 and, for the past 15 years, has served as the lead personal finance teacher. At Columbia Falls, Bates teaches business courses and is the Career and Technical Education department chair.  

Denney, a member of Glacier's International Languages department, has taught at the academy for 15 years. Denney teaches Spanish 2, serving as the lead teacher for eight years.

Harbaugh teaches Spanish (including Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes) at Glacier, where he is also an instructional leader. Harbaugh has taught at the academy for 10 years, where he is the lead Spanish 1 teacher. In addition, Harbaugh has worked with the academy’s credit recovery program, supporting students across a variety of subject areas.

Hill is the lead French 2 and 3 teacher at the academy, where she has taught for 11 years. At Glacier, Hill teaches French 2, 3 and (Advanced Placement and dual enrollment classes). 

Lapke has taught at the academy since 2010 and is the lead Advanced Placement Calculus teacher. He is also a teacher representative on the academy’s governing board. At Glacier, Lapke teaches Individual Learning Pathway Algebra 1, Individual Learning Pathway Geometry, Individual Learning Pathway Algebra 2, Advanced Placement Calculus and Principles of Engineering. 

Lovering started teaching at the academy in 2013, starting with World History and switching to Advanced Placement United States History in 2019. Lovering is in her 26th year at Columbia Falls High School, where she teaches multiple psychology and American government classes, including Advanced Placement courses, and serves as the school’s integrated technology specialist.

Putzler, who has taught at the academy since its start, is the biology lead teacher. At Flathead, where he’s worked for 26 years, he is the science department’s instructional leader and teaches freshman biology and International Baccalaureate Biology 1 and 2.

Rider has taught at the academy since its start and is the lead geometry teacher. She teaches math at Kalispell Middle School. In addition to teaching at the middle school level, Rider is a professor at Grand Canyon University, where she teaches graduate-level courses to students obtaining master’s and doctoral degrees.