The Golden Owl Award recognized a record year of agricultural educators, with more than 4,900 nominations and 107 finalists across 15 states.
Nationwide and its state FFA partners announced the 2025-26 Golden Owl Award grand prize winners and Ag Educators of the Year. The winners are Russell Zimmerman of Nipomo High School in California; Mark Breeding of Caesar Rodney High School in Delaware; Zach Morris of West Liberty High School in Iowa; Joe Steffen of Newark High School in Illinois; Lynnette Markley of Argos High School in Indiana; Dr. Kelly Hoelting of Mission Valley High School in Kansas; Ben Prevette of Hopkins County Central High School in Kentucky; Becky Yost of Northern High School in Maryland; Jarred Sayre of Milan C-2 High School in Missouri; Tony Jensen of Freeman High School in Nebraska; Mary Coolbaugh of Marcus Whitman Central School in New York; Alex Zimmer of Buckeye Valley High School in Ohio; Doug Masser of Pequea Valley High School in Pennsylvania; Dave VanderWal of De Smet High School in South Dakota; and Chad Warnick of Delta High School in Utah.
Nationwide partnered with state FFA organizations to establish the Golden Owl Award in 2018 to highlight the importance of agricultural educators and recognize teachers who support students pursuing careers in agriculture, agribusiness and environmental stewardship.
Since its inception, the program has provided more than $800,000 to support teachers, students, school agricultural programs and FFA organizations. The program has expanded each year, adding Delaware and Utah in 2025.
As grand prize winners, the teachers receive the title of their state's Ag Educator of the Year, a Golden Owl Award trophy and $3,000 to support new opportunities for their programs.
The selected finalists, chosen by established state committees, receive $5,001 in recognition of their contributions. Nationwide also contributes $5,000 to each participating state FFA organization.
Information about partners, state honorees, past winners and the nomination process is available at GoldenOwlAward.com.
Source: Nationwide, "15 teachers named Ag Educators of the Year"