Although I was born in Wyoming, my family has roots in Montana, and so my parents moved back shortly afterwards. I was in the Missoula area by the time I was a few years old. I grew up in Missoula and throughout the Bitterroot Valley, went to school here, and met my wife here. My career path eventually required that I move out of state for a few years, but both my wife and I were excited to return to Missoula in 2020 where we now intend to stay for as long as it is practical.

My Montana-Centered History:

For all intents and purposes, I consider myself a Montana native - it's where I grew up, and it's what I've known most of my life. You can see this by the Missoula-area photos featured around this website - they aren't stock photos or photos from an Internet search, they were all taken by me! I remember the Missoula of the 1990s, and many things have changed since then.

That being said, the only way now is forward, and I hope to do a small part in guiding Missoula to be a better place through involvement in local government.

Photo: Dusk in the Bitterroot Valley, Rob Woelich, July 2008

I've been teaching people how to fly airplanes since 2015, when I became a FAA Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI).

The process to become a flight instructor includes studying how humans learn and how to effectively communicate and teach. In fact, a flight instructor also spends a lot of time on the ground teaching students traditionally using lesson plans, references, and drawings on a whiteboard or other appropriate visual aids. Many instructors, myself included, create their own teaching aids such as presentations or drawings based on their own experience.

While it's not directly related to the K-12 school system, you might be curious about some of the knowledge areas a flight instructor must be a subject matter expert in. An experienced instructor easily spends thousands of hours and several years of traditional study and practical experience with these topics in order to be able to effectively teach them to others:

My experience as a flight instructor includes the teaching of ground school classes at one of the largest flight schools in the country. I provided traditional classroom instruction to new student pilots, as well as training to other new hire flight instructors in my role of management at the flight school. I also created the curriculum for a unique program which allowed high school students the opportunity to obtain a pilot license during the school year, and I was the primary instructor overseeing a team of other instructors working with these students. My current position at the Federal Aviation Administration requires a minimum amount of instructor experience, and that experience is applied to decisions made in the course of my employment.

As a flight instructor for over 6 years, I plan to use the experience I've gained as an educator to guide school policies in the right direction. Bad policies and lack of support will have a tangible negative impact on MCPS students, staff, and families. Though my educator experience is not strictly equivalent to that of a traditional teacher, I believe that I understand many of the challenges our teachers and students face, and I am sympathetic to them. I've dealt with restrictive policies and regulations which don't always make sense, lack of proper resources, difficult students and third parties, and challenging instructional environments. I would be happy to do what I can to alleviate some of these challenges where it makes sense to do so, and where the school board might be so empowered.

Please note that all statements made on this website are Rob's personal opinion, and are not official statements made on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration in connection with Rob's employment or official duties.

Photo: A PA-31 at San Marcos, TX (KHYI), Rob Woelich, July 2017