A Billings native, Dan Johnson earned his M.Ed in Curriculum and Instruction from Montana State University and his BA in Secondary Education--English from Rocky Montana College. He completed post-graduate level work with Montana Teachers of English Language Learners and holds certificates in Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Teaching of Diverse Language Learners. Dan serves as an Elk River Writing Project teacher consultant and has been deeply involved in the Montana Writing Project and Elk River Writing Project during his career. During his teaching career, he has taught in every classification of school in the state of Montana. Dan focuses much of his classroom practices on emphasizing student choice in writing and reading and focuses on building a strong foundation of skills in these areas. Beyond just this, he also has a strong passion for argumentative writing in his classroom, and Dan was heavily involved in speech and debate at every school he has been at for over 15 years. He served as president of the Montana Forensics Educators Association and chairman of the Montana East National Speech and Debate Association's Committee. He was the recipient of the MFEA Class AA Anne Sullivan Debate Coach of the Year Award in 2021.