During the 110th South Dakota Farmers Union State Convention Audrey Keierleber was recognized for her volunteer efforts to provide farm safety, cooperative and leadership education to rural youth with the Minnie Lovinger Award. Pictured here with Samantha Bowman, Education Program Specialist.
Audrey Keierleber was recognized for her volunteer efforts to provide farm safety, cooperative and leadership education to rural youth with the Minnie Lovinger Award. The award was presented to Keierleber during the South Dakota Farmers Union State Convention held in Huron Dec. 10 and 11.
“Farmers Union youth education programming depends on volunteers like Audrey who are willing to share their time, talents and passion for agriculture with rural youth,” said Karla Hofhenke, Executive Director for South Dakota Farmers Union. “Youth are our future. Providing them with education on farm safety, leadership and cooperatives empowers them to better serve their rural communities.”
From an early age, education was a focus of Keierleber’s, specifically getting a college education.
“My dad’s theory was that women stayed at home, got married and had families. If they wanted a job, they could get a job working at the local restaurant. Well, this was not what I wanted for my life. I did not want to stay home and work at a restaurant,” explained Keierleber, who grew up on a farm near Rutland and was the oldest of six children.
Inspired by her family and consumer science teacher, Keierleber enrolled at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in 1970. It was up to her to figure out how to pay her own tuition.
Keierleber met her husband, Joel, through his sister, Angela. “We were in class together and we had to go to Yankton for a weeklong class at the Youth Development Center there. When the class was over, I went home to Clearfield with Angela for spring break.”
A few years would go by before the two would begin dating. “By coincidence my first teaching job was in Colome, just about 30 miles from Clearfield. We’d go dancing on Saturday nights. It was a car full – me, Joel and his sister and three brothers.”
Keierleber’s teaching career was diverse. She taught family and consumer science classes in Colome, Martin, Winner and White River. Because she had an English minor, she also taught a reading class in addition to family and consumer sciences when she began teaching at White River. Later, when there was a need for a science teacher in Burke, Keierleber taught middle school science, psychology and reading. She spent the 20 years prior to retirement teaching middle school science and family and consumer science in the Winner School District.
She loved watching her students learn and grow. Now retired 18 years, Keierleber says it is rewarding to see where they ended up in their careers. “Many are doctors, nurses, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, a former student works in sports medicine for Sanford Orthopedics, four of the nurse practitioners in Winner are former students…I may lose track of them, but they remember me when we see each other.”
Busy teaching during the school year, Keierleber was generous with her time during the summer months. In addition to aiding her daughters, Brecky and Christine, with their many 4-H projects, she began helping out with Farmers Union Day Camps.
She and Joel had been attending Farmers Union meetings since they were newlyweds because Joe’s parents were actively involved in the grassroots organization. When Brecky was 8, the education volunteers for Tripp County, Kenny and Doris Meiner, invited her to join a busload of other Tripp County youth and visit Golden West Cooperative in Wall.
“It was a good experience for the girls to see things they had not seen before. Yes, we have cooperatives in Tripp County, but this cooperative was different.”
Then the Meiners asked Keierleber if she would help out with Farmers Union Day Camp. “I was one of the lunch people. We would make the same thing every year – one volunteer would make mac and cheese, and I would do the hot dogs.”
In addition to learning about farm safety and cooperatives, Keierleber and the other volunteers helped the youth with crafts. “We always had crafts – most years two or three!”
Keierleber is the only one of her siblings to receive a college degree. She passed on her passion for education to her daughters. Christine Wood received a master’s in agriculture engineering from SDSU and is the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Specialist for SDSU Extension. Brecky Cwach is a business management graduate of Dakota State University and is a bond underwriter for a national firm.
“We always knew our daughters could do a lot and we supported them in their interests,” Keierleber said.
Each year, South Dakota Farmers Union works with volunteer education directors like Keierleber to host day camps in rural communities across the state. The organization also hosts State Youth and Teen Leadership Camps. To learn more about Farmers Union educational programming, visit www.sdfu.org.
