Not all the kids are just hanging out in the halls at high school. We shared some good news this morning from Superintendent of Public Instruction Denise Juneau - she says that the number of high school students who too the ACT Plus Writing test this past spring increased by almost 3,000! Now part of the reason might be because the test is free. But you’ve gotta do whatever it takes to get them through the door.

The report from the State’s Superintendent also said that a total, 9,000 public high school juniors took the test. The free test is the result of federal a grant given to the state's college system.

So what’s good about this you ask?

The increase also led to more students being eligible for awards.

The state says that nearly 1,000 more students also qualified for the state's "Best and Brightest" scholarship. And roughly 500 more are eligible for full admission into one of Montana's four-year colleges.

This just proves that free is the best price of all and in this case the return for our future looks promising.

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