Jim Bear

Jim Bear’s childhood was spent on a farm 14 miles northwest of Jamestown until he moved with his parents to Jamestown during his junior year in high school. He graduated from Jamestown High School and immediately attended North Dakota State University upon graduation. He transferred to VCSU, where he received his bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with a major in English from Valley City State University.

After graduation, Jim took his first job in education, teaching English in Plaza, North Dakota. From there, he went on to teach English in Montpelier, ND. While there, he took coursework at NDSU, which provided him certification to teach computer science. Jim then became the computer teacher and technology director for Montpelier Public School.
After teaching computer classes for 10 years, Jim went back to NDSU to attain his master’s degree in Educational Leadership and became high school principal in Montpelier. He then took a break from K12 education and went to work in the helpdesk at UJ. After a short time, Jim transferred to UJ’s marketing department where he served as the web director and news writer—all while earning his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from UJ.

Jim then went back to Montpelier where he served as high school principal for a time until he finally joined the Teacher Education faculty at UJ in 2020. Jim has been happily married to his wife Heidi since 1996. They have three children: Aurora (1997), Sebastian (2000), and Cecelia (2007). They live on a farmstead outside of Montpelier where they have raised pigs, goats, and chickens, but as of 2022 limit the livestock to guinea fowl.

Favorite Course

I cannot choose a favorite course. Technology is an addiction of mine, so Instructional Media and Technology has elements I love. Introduction to Education allows me to learn about the widest variety of students. Assessment and Evaluation allows me to think most critically about what we’ve done in schools for the last hundred years.

In the fall of 2022, I will be teaching an honors seminar called “Self Reliance: The Hypebeast’s Challenge in a Technology-Infused World” and I am most looking forward to that course.

Professional Affiliations

I am a member of NDCEL (North Dakota Council of Educational Leaders), NDDTSEA (North Dakota Driver and Traffic Safety Education Association), and NDATL (North Dakota Association of Technology Leaders).