Mitchell receives national ag award

Royal Valley High School agriculture teacher Kim Mitchell has been busy. 

In just two years, Mitchell has revived the school’s FFA program and expanded the agriculture education classes offered in the district. Through grant funds obtained by Mitchell, a greenhouse has been built at the school and a new hydroponics program is being implemented, too. 

Mitchell’s efforts have not gone unnoticed as she and five other teachers throughout the country recently received the Outstanding Young Member Award from the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).

Mitchell and the other educators received the honor at the NAAE annual convention in New Orleans on Nov. 18.

“I am very honored,” Mitchell said. “I know a lot of outstanding ag teachers in Kansas and our country.”

Mitchell began working for Royal Valley during the 2013-2014 school year. She restarted the agriculture program and has since generated a lot of interest in the plant systems pathway available to students. The pathway offers classes in introductory agriculture, agriscience, horticulture, plant and soil science, agriculture business and agricultural communications and leadership.

“Getting the Monsanto grant to build our greenhouse really sparked an interest in the program,” she said. 

The district received a $10,000 grant from Monsanto last fall to put towards the construction of a 30x48 foot greenhouse. 

Mitchell is the school’s FFA advisor, and she has 40 to 45 students participating in the chapter at the school this year. She attributes the growing interest in FFA and ag sciences to 4-H.

“We have a lot of students involved in 4-H,” she said. “It’s such a strong program here and keeps the kids active in projects.”

Last year, Mitchell organized a job shadowing experience for 30 members of the FFA chapter. Participants chose a local business and shadowed a professional who had a career in which they were interested.

In partnership with the Kansas Farm Bureau, she coordinated an Agriculture Leadership Day, where she invited five local agricultural leaders to talk with her students about careers and leadership in agriculture. At the end of the day, two Kansas State FFA Officers presented her chapter with 10 new FFA jackets in recognition of her work in founding the program.

This fall, Mitchell was notified that the district received a Voya Unsung Heroes Grant of $2,000 to purchase a hydroponics system for the greenhouse. Two, smaller systems were purchased for the greenhouse before Mitchell learned the district had received the grant.

“Our goal is to produce enough food to help supplement school lunches or other programs,” she said. “Right now, we’re starting with tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce. We’re one of 100 schools in the country to receive the award.”

Mitchell also helped secure a $2,000 National FFA “Living to Serve” grant that will be used to help landscape areas of the Northeast Kansas Heritage Complex south of Holton, which is the site of the county fair.

Mitchell said she’s able to keep moving the ag science program forward in the district because of the administrators.

“They are very supportive, and they were excited to have agriculture classes back at Royal Valley,” she said. “It’s been a tremendous reception.” 

A 2001 graduate of Holton High School, Mitchell received a bachelor of arts in agriculture education from Kansas State University and a master of arts in education from Baker University. She was very involved in FFA in high school.

“I just loved it so much,” she said. “I’ve seen all the opportunities students can have with FFA no matter what career they choose.”

Prior to working for Royal Valley, Mitchell worked for the Kansas State Department of Education and Marysville High School as a teacher and FFA advisor. 

In January, Mitchell was selected as the Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators (KAAE) Outstanding Young Member of the Year, which allowed her to apply for the same award at the national level. 

Mitchell received the NAAE national award as a representative of Region II, which also includes ag teachers from Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana.  The NAAE is divided into six regions.

Mitchell has two kids, Monte (eight) and Brock (two). Her parents are Gene and Debra Clark of Holton.

Each of the 2015 NAAE Outstanding Young Member winners received special recognition at the NAAE convention. John Deere sponsors the Outstanding Young Member program as a special project of the National FFA Foundation.