2025 is the International Year of Quantum, and April 14 was World Quantum Day. Throughout that week, QCORE's Education and Workforce Development Team engaged with communities across Montana to spread awareness of quantum technologies and QCORE's role in these emerging areas.

Mr. G on WQD: Celebrating World Quantum Day with the Science of Sound, Light, and the Mysterious World of Quantum

On Wednesday, April 16, students, teachers, and parents throughout the Bozeman area were invited to a free educational laser light show at the Willson Auditorium.

The show was performed by Glenn Govertsen, aka Mr. G, a retired physics teacher from Missoula. Mr.G has been using the science of sound, light, lasers, and quantum to educate audiences for decades. Around 350 people attended.

Attendees were also able to take part in hands-on activities led by pre-service teachers (future science teachers from the MSU Department of Education) as part of their Integrating Quantum Into the K-12 Classroom digital badge.

World Quantum Day Mayoral Proclamation

On Tuesday, April 8, Bozeman Mayor Terry Cunningham made a proclamation acknowledging the significance of World Quantum Day for Bozeman residents. Click the button below to view the proclamation (see Agenda Item H in the city council meeting recording).

Workforce Development at GC360

The Quantum Education and Workforce Development team participated in GC360, an event hosted on April 17 by Gallatin College to educate middle and high school students on technical and vocational career pathways. The team also set up an additional "Mr.G on WQD" show for visiting students after the fair had concluded.

World Quantum Day Classroom Kits

World Quantum Day Classroom Kits were sent to 56 schools and educational non-profits throughout Montana. The kits featured activities from QuanTime and other partners. An "Ask Me Anything About Quantum" training Webinar was hosted on World Quantum Day featuring partners from the National Q-12 Education Partnership and NIST.

Feedback from teachers was very positive and described how they were able to integrate the kit activities into their existing curriculum. These teachers will be able to continue to use the included resources with classes to come. Quotes from teachers who used the kits in their classrooms as well as a photo of students engaging with one of the spectroscopy activities are below.

“Very few students were familiar with quantum topics at all, but a few recognized that it had to do with the extremely small things. Visualizing just how small things can be, really fascinated them, and led to fairly high engagement with most of the activities.” 

-- Conrad Public School Teacher

“The students didn't know what quantum was and how important it can become to their lives in the technology space. They have a better understanding now and learned some new things related to quantum, superposition, and waves.” 

-- Boys and Girls Club of the Flathead Reservation and Lake County

Montana Higher Education Emerging Technologies Collaboration

Undergraduate students and faculty from Stone Child College and Carroll College visited MSU and Gallatin College to learn about quantum and photonics-related research and job opportunities.  

Over the course of two days, they toured QCORE's new facilities in the EngineWorks building, Gallatin College's Photonics and Laser Technology Program facilities, MSU's Optical Remote Sensor Lab, Spectrum Lab, and the Montana Nanotechnology Facility, as well as Gallatin Valley businesses Aurora, Lattice Materials and Vision Aerial. The students were also treated to dinner in downtown Bozeman thanks to the Bozeman Chamber of Commerce.

QuantumGirls Wrapping Up

Over the course of the last semester, four sites across Montana have hosted groups of middle schools girls to pilot test the QuantumGirls curriculum created and facilitated by the National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) with support from the QCORE Education and Workforce Development team.

On April 1, NGCP hosted a national Webinar to share the QuantumGirls curriculum and World Quantum Day resources. View the Webinar here.

As they concluded their programs, each Montana site hosted a showcase for the students' parents and teachers. The QCORE Workforce Development team will use feedback from participating educators and youth to strengthen the curriculum and make a plan for scaling and further dissemination.

Our Quantum programs are led by the MSU Science Math Resource Center as part of the education and workforce development efforts of QCORE, Montana State University’s Applied Quantum CORE (Capacity, Operational Resilience, and Excellence).

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