Ag teacher Mindi Clark always puts others first

By MALCOM SMITH
News Editor

Mindi Clark, associate professor
of agriculture always knew that she
would fall in love with agriculture
ever since her first time showing
livestock.

When Clark was 8-years-old,
she started to raise pigs as her first
hobby.

Clark had success in showing
livestock, where she won her first
competition at 9-years-old. The animals were pigs and cattle.
Clark has always had a passion
for agriculture, whether it is dealing
with plants or raising the cattle that
she has on her farm.

Growing up on a small farm in
Braman, Oklahoma, farming became second nature to her.
“I have a passion for agriculture
because everyone eats and everyone wears clothes, so the food and
fiber that is produced everyone depends on,” Clark said.
Clark’s work life and outside
life are the same, which is great
for her because you do not want to
have a job that makes you feel miserable every single day you clock
in.

Clark joined the Future Farmers
of America in eighth grade, which
provided her with opportunities of a
lifetime like learning how to speak
to the public, and livestock judging
that would eventually make her the
leader she is today.

“I am a great professor who
is determined to help people and
to make them successful in life or
even in agriculture,” Clark said. “In
high school she was also active in
FFA. Which boosted her networking skills.”
The program put her in a position to become an FFA officer,
which allowed her to meet other
agriculture teachers and visit agriculture programs across the state of
Oklahoma.

It helped her realize that agriculture education is where she was
destined to be.

“I am married to a fifth-generation farmer, so outside of my work
and educating the public about agriculture,” Clark said. “I am living
it daily.”

Mindi and Steve Clark met at
Oklahoma State University which
is where she got her bachelor’s
degree in agriculture (2001-2005),
received her master’s in education
at Northwestern Oklahoma State
University (2005-2006) and went
back to Oklahoma State University
to get her doctorates in agricultural teacher education (2011-2013).
They eventually got married and
had their son Thomas in 2017.

“Clark has always been considerate to the people around her
which is what makes her such a
compassionate person,” Said Olivia
Pride former NWOSU student.

Pride is also Clark’s niece and she has a lot of admiration for
Clark..

“Clark takes time out of her day
every month to take Pride and her
little brother out to eat, so they can
catch up on each other’s life and to
make sure that her niece and nephew are doing well,” Pride said.
Clark tried her best to go to
Pride’s musicals when she was in
high school to support her and to
show that she would always have
her back through anything.

“She always comes out of her
way to be there for me,” Pride said.
“She came to my graduation, and I
live two hours from Alva.”