Alumni Spotlight

Name: Dr. Kelly Hoelting

Current Title: Agricultural Education & FFA Advisor

Organization: Mission Valley USD 330

Majors:

B.S. Agricultural Education '01

M.S. Curriculum and Instruction '05

Ph.D Curriculum and Instruction '22

 

Why did you choose K-State?

I knew I wanted to do something in ag. I grew up in 4-H and FFA and had a farm and animals. I knew that that was a path that I wanted to take. K-State was able to put a lot of those things together for me, not only through the College of Agriculture, but also through leadership opportunities to be involved on and off campus. Hands-on opportunities were also important to me. The classes weren’t just in a lecture hall; we got to learn through the labs. After looking all around, K-State was the place that offered the most of that. Of course, we grew up Wildcat fans. Football wasn’t as good back then, but basketball was good. So that also helped seal the deal.

You’ve gotten your bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D from K-State. What's kept drawing you back to K-State for more education?

First, the faculty and the ag education program. When I graduated in 2001 with my bachelor’s, I went out and started teaching. I knew I wanted to get my master’s right away, and I enjoyed the faculty at K-State and the experience that I had. They were offering classes that fit not only my needs but also my interests. To get my Ph.D., I looked at a few other schools to see what they had and what they offered, but I wanted the option to be able to continue to teach simultaneously because I love teaching, so I needed an online option. The K-State faculty are the ones who really pushed and showed me that I could do it online and go through K-State. So I would say the faculty, the experience, ag education opportunities and then just the college as a whole were the biggest factors.

What is your motivation for being in the classroom for 25 years?

My students, their families and the experiences I get to see them have. We just had our district banquet, and I got to see a student who has put in the time outside of the classroom working on their supervised ag education project win an award for their work. Seeing my students succeed like that makes it all worth it.

Watching my students succeed, become leaders and grow over the four or five years that I get to teach them has been amazing. Now, having taught for 25 years, I’m actually teaching some of my former students’ kids. Watching them grow up and be successful adults, have families and then getting to come back around is just a full circle moment. So I’ve really enjoyed it, and I love ag education. It’s different every day. We get to do something new, and the students never let it be boring, that’s for sure.

What did you research and study in your master’s and Ph.D programs, and how has that influenced the way you teach today?

In my master’s program, I did more of a project on the overall curriculum that we changed in our school and how those changes could be implemented at other schools as well. That helped me because I’ve been on a lot of committees for the Kansas Department of Education to help write the standards and competencies, or even rewrite classes that we need for ag education.

In my doctorate, I studied the job satisfaction and work-life balance of ag teachers through COVID. That has helped my perspective of work-life balance and being able to talk with my student teachers and other young ag teachers. It also taught me how much we enjoy the experience of being ag teachers, and through COVID, we couldn't do that to the full extent. It reminded me that it’s important to enjoy what it is like, because it can feel exhausting when you’re gone or when you’re taking students to different places. However, those are some of the things that we didn’t get to do during COVID. So it is important to make sure we’re enjoying it, living in the moment and giving kids those experiences because that was really what most people missed the most.

What do you enjoy most about working with students in agriculture?

Teaching them the importance of agriculture, both from a production side and the economic side. Agriculture is a major driver for not only feeding and clothing the world, but also for our economy, both in Kansas and the United States. I think kids don't always understand that because they just see agriculture as farming. Helping them realize how important the industry is to functioning every day, as well as how the industry contributes to our quality of life in the United States and globally, is really eye-opening. Agriculture is truly important. We need it. I think being able to expose kids to that really just helps to challenge their perspective of what’s possible in agriculture. Even if they never have a career in agriculture, they’re always going to be a consumer of ag, so teaching them the importance of knowing what your product is and where it comes from builds awareness and confidence in production agriculture.

What does it mean to you to be a finalist for the 2026 Golden Owl award with Kansas FFA Foundation?

It means a lot. I think we have so many ag teachers who are all extremely worthy. So many people deserve this award because we have some really good ag teachers in the state of Kansas. So I am very honored to be nominated and to be a finalist for the Golden Owl award. It also means a lot because I have been able to teach in one area, seeing two generations and even teaching my own kids. That’s been a really special aspect of my career so far. It’s neat to see that what I do makes a difference in other people’s lives. So I think the goal now is to share with people that you can be a mom and an ag teacher with a successful program. For a long time, people didn’t think that those two things could coexist. And now there are so many people out there that are doing such a great job of it. But 25 years ago, it was hard. So it’s neat to see my experience be honored as a finalist for the Golden Owl award.