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Meet the presentors

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After earning an Education degree at OSU in 1995, Chris Klaasen became the Judging Coach and an adjunct teacher at Redlands Community College for 3 years. In 1998, he became the ag teacher at Hydro-Eakly, where he has remained for the last 27 years. He and his wife, Ginger, have a daughter, Reagan, and a son, Ryder. They own and operate Klaassen Farms, which consists of 1,000 acres of farm land, a cow-calf operation consisting of 110 spring calving Maine-Angus cows, 25 summer and fall calving club calf cows, and generally 500 calves on wheat pasture each winter as part of a stocker cattle program.

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Klaassen’s ag teacher, Mr. Stu Dildine, had a huge impact on Klaassen, and now he is impacting students’ lives today. His impact can be seen in part in some of the accomplishments of his many students. A few of these accomplishments include 4 National Proficiency, 86 State Proficiency Winners; 3 State Champion Livestock Judging Teams, 3 State Champion Trap Shooting Teams, 9 State Champion Public Speaking Division Winners, multiple Grand and Reserve Grand Champions at OYE, a National Champion Ewe NAILE and a Bronze Doe NAILE.

Chris
klaasen

Hydro-Eakly FFA Advisor

Chris
Kelln

Shattuck FFA Advisor

Chris has 26 years of experience as an ag teacher. After completing a degree in Agricultural Education from OSU, Kelln began his teaching career in 1993 at Billings, OK. Since then, with the exception of 6-year stint as General Manager at Western Equipment in Woodward, OK, he has taught at Waynoka, Fairview, and is currently at Shattuck. Kelln and his wife Tammy have two children, Kela who lives in Denver, CO and Duke who is in Laramie, WY. In addition to teaching, he and his wife also farm, raising cattle, goats, and hay.

 

When asked why he became an ag teacher, Kelln recalls how he worked for a retired ag teacher when he was growing up. He saw the impact that ag teacher had on his students and the community, and it inspired him to go into teaching. While he is proud of the awards and recognition his students’ have received in public speaking, livestock showing, CDEs, proficiency contests, and ag mechanic shows, it is the lasting impact that ag teachers and ag ed programs have on the youth of Oklahoma that has gave meaning to his teaching career. 

Tommy milligan

perry FFA Advisor

Tommy Milligan brings over 25 years of diverse experience in both education and industry to the classroom. With a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education from Oklahoma State University (OSU), earned in 1995, Tommy has taught at schools in two states. He spent two years teaching Agricultural Education at Navajo Pine High School in Navajo, New Mexico and is in his 12th year at Perry High School. He and his wife, Julie, co-own Milligan Ventures, where they engage in real estate investing, career development event training, graphic, logo and web design. The Milligans were also former owners of showgoats.com and have run multiple successful business ventures. As the first in his family to graduate from college with the goal of becoming an Ag teacher, Tommy is deeply passionate about helping young people discover their passions and pursue their dreams. He believes that by teaching students how to create value in the world, they will gain the financial independence needed to make a meaningful impact.

Billy Shane Scott graduated from OSU with a degree in Animal Science and received his teaching certificate. He also earned a Master in Ag Education. He recently retired as the ag teacher for Amber-Pocasset, where he spent his entire 48-year teaching career. His wife Angie is the elementary principal there.

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Scott’s goal was to have a well-rounded program and to involve as many students in various aspects of the FFA. His chapter won 20 Single Teacher Sweepstakes. Scott found ag teaching to be a very rewarding career and feels honored to have been able to be involved in ag education and FFA for nearly 5 decades.

billy shane scott

retired FFA Advisor

christy snyder

cherokee FFA Advisor

Christy Snider is on her 26th year of ag teaching. She has a bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education OSU and a master’s degree in Administration from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. She began teaching in Crescent in 1999 and remained there until 2019, when she moved to Cherokee and has been teaching there since her move. Snider and her husband Darin raise wheat, sheep, and a small cow-calf herd. 

Snider has advised some National Proficiency winners, State and Area Stars, State Champion teams and competitive livestock exhibitors over the years. But when asked, her best accomplishment is seeing students succeed not just as FFA members, but also as adults making a difference in the world. Snider chose to become an ag teacher because she was drawn to a career that was not boring and redundant. This career has allowed her to focus on her strengths, which include hardwork, dedication and passion for educating people about agriculture/FFA. She enjoys working with students and helping them find their potential, even when they think they don’t have any. She views herself as a mentor to not only her students, but also their parents, siblings and ultimately the community.

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