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Take a walk through time with these photos of Montana’s history.
Katie Loomer is the recipient of the inaugural Floy Peterson Little Red School House Scholarship, its board announced.
The $1,500 scholarship is in memory of Floy Peterson, the driving force behind the restoration of the historic Little Red School House, which was established in 1888.
Loomer, who is majoring in art education at Helena College UM, told board members Anna Hoffman and Esther Fantry that the scholarship would “help her achieve her education goals” and her dream of becoming an art educator.
Katie Loomer
“We were impressed with Katie’s excellent scholastic record and her desire to be an educator for the next generation of students,” Hoffman said.
A Helena College junior, Katie is the daughter of Troy Loomer and Julie Moore. She graduated from Capital High in 2022, where her favorite teachers were Adam Clinch, honors math; Nicholas Zarnowski, AP government; and art teachers Kimberly Cook and Heather Ditch.
“Those were the teachers that encouraged me … and inspired me the most to become an educator,” related Loomer, whose hobbies besides art are costuming and traveling.”
In September of 2023, she also garnered the $2,500 NBCU Academy Scholarship from Helena College UM, which she used for “tuition, fees and other educational expenses for the fall 2023 semester.”
Mt. Helena by Katie Loomer
After graduating from Helena College, Loomer plans on transferring to the University of Montana-Western to pursue a bachelor’s degree in art education. That career path, she said, arose from experiences she had with the arts in high school.
The late Floy Synness Peterson Nicholson (1925-2021) was the granddaughter of Montana pioneers Andreas and Gurina Synness, who immigrated from Norway to their Basin Ranch Homestead between North Hill and Beartooth Mountain (now known as the Sleeping Giant) in 1879.
Floy was a driving force in the preservation of the Little Red School House on Sierra Road, “which was built in 1888 and operated as an active school for Helena Valley students until about 1920,” according to LRSH curator David Wolstein. “For the next 30 years or so it was used off-and-on as a venue for several different outfits.
The historic Little Red School House, established in 1888.
“From about 1950 to 1976 it sat vacant except for occasional use by the fire department. When Floy learned it was scheduled for destruction, she spearheaded an organized effort of dozens of folks to save and restore the building and maintain the grounds.”
Local historian Curt Synness, Floy’s second cousin, contributed to this article.
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Take a walk through time with these photos of Montana’s history.
The historic Little Red School House, established in 1888.
Mt. Helena by Katie Loomer
Katie Loomer
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