Henrietta Adams Memorial Endowed Scholarship
Helen D. Adams was born to John Adams and Henrietta Applegate Adams at the family homestead south of Laurel, Montana, in 1909. She attended grade school and high school in Billings and graduated from Eastern Montana Normal School (now MSU Billings) in 1929, earning her education diploma. Helen went on to earn her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She started her career by teaching all eight grades in rural schools in Carbon, Sweet Grass, and Stillwater Counties. Later she taught first grade in Billings Orchard, Garfield, and Grand schools until her retirement in 1975. A dedicated teacher, she gave enormously of herself to her students. She had a special talent for dealing with individual differences and for encouraging the children to experiment with numbers and enjoy math. A firm believer in education, Helen established the Henrietta Adams Memorial Endowed Scholarship in 1984 in memory of her mother to provide scholarship assistance to female elementary education majors. Helen passed away in November 1994 at age 85. The first scholarship was awarded in academic year 1988-1989.
Impact
“I am a non-traditional student on a mission to be a teacher and build a future for myself. I have chosen Elementary and Special Education as I have discovered a real passion for working with students that have special needs…I found it touching that Helen D. Adams, who set up the scholarship in honor of her mother, was also a teacher and that is scholarship is intended to help those like me fulfill our dreams of becoming teachers.” – Quincy P., Elementary and Special Education majors