Shirley Hinther
Horticulture Director LTS

shinther@cayuse.k12.mt.us

My name is Shirley Beth Hinther but I go by Ms.Shirley in school.  I was born in the back seat of a Chevy in Rapid City, South Dakota.  At six months of age I was adopted and my new family moved to Missoula Montana, where I lived for the next 65 years. I attended the University of Montana where I majored in Mathematics. I worked in Customer Service for more than 30 years before I returned to school and completed the courses to become a Certified Coding Specialist.  I spent several years as a CCS coding medical charts and bills for all 50 states of the union.  Upon retirement, my husband and I moved to Kalispell to be closer to our daughter and her family and to assist her with child care.  I have 3 grandchildren:  Lily, age 14, Anika, age 6, and Lukas, age 3.

I have worked with children in one way or another for most of my life. I ran a daycare out of my home for nearly 10 years.  I have been a Sunday school teacher for many years, I have been a Den Mother for both Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts and was a Troop Leader and coach for AWANA for 5 years.  

I have raised my own garden for over 45  years.  My first garden was a row of 5 gallon  buckets full of dirt and tomatoes, peppers and tomatillos.  I soon graduated to an in-ground garden with beans, peas and corn, but I kept my buckets and planted them faithfully every year.  My garden has steadily grown each year to what it is today:  a 26 foot by 27 foot garden, complete with a 10 X15 foot greenhouse, squash, watermelon, artichoke, asparagus, and dill.

I am extremely excited to become part of the Cayuse Prairie family and am looking forward to an exciting year in the classroom and in the garden.