Joan Brandvold Schmidt serves First Presbyterian Church as Director of Music Ministry/Organist.  A graduate of St. Olaf College, she uses speech, writing and music to communicate a message of God’s love for all mankind.

A former President of the National School Boards Association, she has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and C-Span’s Washington Report.  She has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Education Caucus, and she has written numerous articles for national and state publications.  A firm believer in the value of communities as places where people work together to solve problems, she is a recipient of the Lay Citizen of the Year Award from the Montana Association of Secondary School Principals.  Joan currently serves on the Steering Committee of the Montana Partnership to End Childhood Hunger as a representative of the Montana School Boards Association.