The Nebraska Golden Owl Award honors teachers for their exceptional commitment to students and dedication to agricultural education. This year, out of many nominations, six finalists were selected. Finalist, Kathleen Craig, from the North Platte FFA chapter, didn’t initially set out to be an agriculture teacher but has fallen in love with the career and is making a difference in the lives of students.
Originally from North Platte, a school that didn’t have an agricultural education program when she was in high school, Mrs. Craig didn’t plan to be an agriculture teacher. She attended Oklahoma State University, earning a bachelor’s degree in animal science, in pursuit of becoming a veterinarian. However, after graduation, Mrs. Craig realized that wasn’t the path for her. Knowing that she was planning to move back to Nebraska, a cousin who was an agriculture teacher in Nebraska contacted Mrs. Craig and encouraged her to look into the transition program for teaching. After some convincing, Mrs. Craig ended up applying for and receiving a position at Kearney, thinking she would complete the transition program, teach for a few years, and then figure out what she wanted to do with her life. But she ended up falling in love with teaching and hasn’t looked back since.
Mrs. Craig graduated from North Platte High School in 2013. Five years later, she took an opportunity to start the North Platte FFA Chapter in 2018. “Her love for agriculture, her excitement for future students, and the determination to begin the FFA organization from scratch gave her the drive to begin the chapter from the ground up,” noted one nominator.
The program started out pretty small, with 25 members in its first year. But, it has grown every year, and now North Platte FFA has around 60 members and a second agriculture teacher as well. “It was just a really unique and fulfilling experience to be able to bring the (agricultural education) program to the school I graduated from and provide that opportunity to kids who otherwise wouldn’t have it,” shared Mrs. Craig.
The students are what inspire Mrs. Craig to teach agriculture. She recalls how in her first year at North Platte, a freshman spearheaded the creation of a “Feed the Farmer” event where local professionals in all sectors of the agriculture industry were invited to come enjoy a meal, learn about North Platte FFA, and participate in a silent and live auction benefitting the FFA Chapter. That event has continued every year since and is now being used to raise funds for the construction of new agriculture facilities and a greenhouse.
A rewarding aspect of the job for Mrs. Craig is getting to work with students who don’t know a lot about agriculture coming into high school. In a program where most of the students don’t come directly from a production agriculture background, sharing agricultural stories and knowledge with students has been fulfilling for Mrs. Craig. In addition to the classroom component, Mrs. Craig especially enjoys the FFA aspect of agricultural education, including competition preparation, taking students to state and national conventions, and teaching elementary students.
Mrs. Craig’s biggest piece of advice for future agriculture teachers is not to be afraid to ask for help and to use the resources available to you. She also encourages new teachers not to reinvent the wheel.
Outside the classroom, Mrs. Craig enjoys spending time with her two children, ranching with her husband, and being the assistant coach of the North Platte High School swim team.
Mrs. Craig would like to thank her family, her students, and their parents for making her job possible. She would also like to extend a special thank you to Matt Kreifels, Macie Wippel, and Collin Swedberg for all of the support they have given her over the years.
The Nebraska Golden Owl Award is sponsored by the Nebraska Agriculture Educators Association, the Nebraska FFA Foundation, and Nationwide.
