Helena High grad lands spot in Smithsonian's first rural internship class

It places one student from a rural state into a paid, 10-week summer position at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

It's a long way from home, in more ways than one.

"It was a very big adjustment, especially coming from Montana," Ackerman said. "It's a very different kind of culture, speed of life out here."

Ackerman is spending her summer with the early childhood education program at the National Zoo. Twice a week, she helps run the zoo's "Little Critters" program, a drop-in play session for young children built around sensory tables, water play, arts and crafts, and story time.

"I am getting hands-on experience with the Little Critters program, but I'm also getting the behind the scenes of what happens," Ackerman said. "How do you prepare for these types of activities? How do you plan the financial logistics? What do you need to know as you're setting up a program like this?"

With the nation's 250th-anniversary celebrations approaching, she's also developing a program about bald eagles that the zoo will present to families during a major event on the National Mall.

The internship was created to open doors for students from small towns and rural states — communities that were previously underrepresented among the roughly 1,200 interns the Smithsonian hosts each year across its 21 museums, research centers and the National Zoo.

Each intern receives a $7,000 stipend and round-trip airfare to Washington, along with networking and professional development opportunities throughout the summer.

"These internships not only provide students expanded opportunities for professional development but empower them to bring what they learn back home," Amberly Pahut, executive director of the First Interstate BancSystem Foundation, said in a news release. "This helps strengthen our communities and inspire others to see what's possible."

Andy Mink, the Smithsonian's director of rural initiatives, said the inaugural class has already made an impression.

"This first cohort brings remarkable talent and perspective, and we're proud to support their growth through hands-on experience, collaboration and mentorship," he said in a news release.

Ackerman is also part of the zoo's "Get a Head Start with the Smithsonian" project, which brings live programming to early childhood classrooms around the country, including back home in Montana.

The program is scheduled to visit a classroom in Anaconda this September, and Ackerman is excited to stay involved even after her internship ends.

Ackerman traces her passion for teaching back to her own time at Helena High School, where she took an internship class that let her job-shadow at Helena Middle School. She reached out to some of her former teachers and asked to sit in on their classrooms.

"I think that really prepared me for what it was like to be in the classroom," Ackerman said. "They showed me some of the behind the scenes of what you do after hours, like after the kids leave. That was really insightful."

She credits her high school biology teacher, Missy Samson, with pointing her toward the field she's now building a career in.

"She really just inspired my love of biology and set me up to study that in college," Ackerman said.

That path is leading her toward a different kind of learning that is built more around the informal, hands-on style she's practicing at the zoo this summer.

"I just think that type of education is so meaningful for those who don't learn as well in a classroom, such as myself," Ackerman said.

Ackerman is on track to graduate from the University of Montana in 2028 with a bachelor's degree in biology and a Montana teaching certificate.