Yes. Wherever you live in Montana, a dedicated Blackburn mentor can work with you or your teenager by video. The whole state is on Mountain time, one hour ahead of our Los Angeles team, and sessions are booked in your local time. High school students, college students, young adults and professionals meet weekly online, with text and phone check-ins between sessions.
Big distances, few people
Montana is one of the largest states by area and one of the least densely populated. A drive from Billings to Missoula takes five hours or so; a family on an eastern ranch may be a long way from the nearest town of any size. Even in the growing cities, the specialized support families look for is often not available locally. Video closes that gap: the sessions happen at the kitchen table, in a dorm room, or in a truck parked somewhere with a signal.
Where Montanans live
The population is spread among a handful of small cities, each serving a large region:
- Billings, the largest city, a hub for energy, agriculture, health care and retail across eastern Montana and northern Wyoming.
- Missoula, a university town in the west with health care, outdoor recreation and a creative scene.
- Bozeman and the Gallatin Valley, among the fastest-growing areas in the region, with technology, remote workers and Yellowstone tourism.
- Great Falls, Helena and Butte, with an Air Force base, state government and a long mining history among them.
- Kalispell and the Flathead Valley, gateway to Glacier National Park.
Across the state, ranching and farming, tourism and outdoor recreation, energy and mining, and health care are the main sources of work.
Schools and the step after
Montana has many small public school districts, some with very small graduating classes, plus a modest number of private and religious schools. Higher education includes a public university system with two large campuses and several smaller ones, community and two-year colleges, and tribal colleges serving reservation communities. Some students stay close to home; many leave for college in neighboring states or farther, and students from out of state come in, drawn partly by the mountains.
That step can be big. A student from a small town moving to a campus of thousands, or from Montana to a large city out of state, faces a lot of change at once. Our page on college transition mentoring covers how a mentor helps.
What mentoring looks like for each group
Teenagers
Weekly goals for school, work and activities, honest conversations about options after graduation, including college, trades, work or a gap year. A parent joins the intro call and gets regular updates. See mentoring for high school students.
College students
Routines, time management and someone checking in when the first semester gets hard. See mentoring for college students.
Young adults and professionals
A plan for a first job, a move to a growing city with high housing costs, or a career change. See young adult mentoring.
Scheduling from Montana
Montana is only an hour ahead of Los Angeles, so nearly any time of day works: after school, after chores, early morning before a shift, or evening. Sessions are 30 or 60 minutes, weekly or several times a week. More on how online sessions run is on our online mentoring page, and parents can read mentoring for families.
Pages for areas in Montana
Nearby pages: Boise and Salt Lake City. Every state is listed under mentoring by state.
Growing up in Montana and finding a first foothold
Many Montana kids grow up with real work: calving in late winter, branding and haying in summer, guiding or park jobs near Glacier and Yellowstone, and hunting season in the fall. Some rural districts run four-day school weeks, and long bus rides and big distances to games are part of normal life. Those years build independence, but they can leave a teen with few chances to see careers outside ranching, tourism or the trades.
The bigger shift for young adults is housing. Bozeman, Missoula and the Flathead Valley have grown quickly, and many people who grew up there now commute from Belgrade, Livingston or smaller towns, or share houses well into their twenties. Students on reservations may start at a tribal college close to family before moving on. Montana also takes part in a long-standing Western regional tuition exchange that can lower out-of-state costs for some students; its rules change, so check the official state site.
Situations Montana families and young adults often navigate
- A ranch teen whose seasonal chores collide with schoolwork and activities.
- A student from a graduating class of a dozen moving to a campus far bigger than any town they have lived in.
- A young adult with a busy summer guiding season and no plan for the long, quiet off season.
- A graduate who wants to stay in a fast-growing valley but cannot afford rent near work.
- A college student weighing a regional tuition discount at an out-of-state school against staying in Montana.
Montana is on Mountain time, and sessions are held by video at a time set in your local zone; in-person sessions take place only in Los Angeles. Useful reading includes regional tuition discounts and budgeting with seasonal or irregular income. See Bozeman and nearby Boise, or education by state.
Related
- Online mentoring in Boise
- Gap year mentoring
- Trade school vs college
- How to choose a trade
- State education rules: graduation, dual enrollment and scholarships
- State merit scholarships explained
- High school graduation requirements
Common questions
What time zone are Montana sessions in?
Mountain time, statewide. That is one hour ahead of Los Angeles, which makes scheduling easy at almost any hour.
We are on a ranch with spotty internet. Can we still do this?
Often yes. Many families use a phone on a cellular signal, and the mentor keeps in touch by text and phone between sessions if a video call drops.
Can a mentor help a student who is not sure college is the right path?
Yes. Mentors help students think through college, trades, work and gap years and build a concrete plan for whichever they choose. They do not give admissions advice.
Get started
Have someone in Montana you would like to talk about? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.