By Aliesia Berryman
Heath Hornecker, professor in Casper College’s Agricultural Department, father of four and a prominent member of the agricultural education community, defines his success by helping studentsreach goals and find success in their education and careers. There is not a lot that Hornecker hasn’t done for his students.
He supports education by advocating for funds, redesigning curriculum, advising students, hosting conferences, attending conferences, supporting teachers and staff, and, his favorite, teaching.
“I really like it when students are in my class,” Hornecker said, “You always hear teachers talk about that lightbulb moment, where somebody either catches on to a hard subject or they find, ‘Man, I like this. This is what I want to do.’”
Hornecker himself had this lightbulb moment in the classroom of his former Casper College (CC) livestock judging coach, Kelly Burch.
“He was always that person I thought back on that really pushed me to go and try to be a better person, a better teacher, and a better coach.” Hornecker said.
Mr. Burch is someone he stays in contact with to this day.
During the Social and Behavioral Science Seminar held on Sept. 18, Hornecker spoke to students about forming life-long relationships with their teachers and how that can benefit their future education and career endeavors.
Hornecker goes beyond the classroom to make positive changes to education.
He currently holds a position on the Faculty Senate where he and other members get to help with the process of electing a new president of CC. He also served when general education requirements were restructured.
He previously served as the academic chair for the agricultural department for 18 years, and he used to be the livestock judging coach for CC.
Hornecker has been a member of Wyoming Association of Career and Technical Education (WACTE) for 25 years.
WACTE is an organization that centers around teachers and educators in Wyoming who help students be ready for their future careers. There are six divisions in WACTE: Agricultural Education, Business Education, Computer Science, Family and Consumer Science, Trades and Technology, and New and Related Services.
For the academic year of 2024-2025, he is serving as President of the association. Jason Eggemeyer, construction professor at CC and member of WACTE, said, “It was exciting to see Heath nominated. I was planning on seconding it, and someone else beat me to it actually.”
Eggemeyer and Hornecker started as teachers at CC a semester apart from each other, and have formed mutual respect for each other over the last 20 years.
“We have a well respected ag department and judging team,” Eggemeyer said, “Heath, having been there for over 20 years, has really been the face of the department to many.” Eggemeyer said Hornecker reaches out to highschool students and families as a sort of ambassador for the CC agriculture department.
“It’s really good for Casper College as a whole to have that kind of support from all of the highschools in the state with someone like Heath representing us.” Eggemeyer said.
Through WACTE, Hornecker has connections with high school and college educators throughout the state.
“It’s not just summer conference that he sees them, he has a great relationship with all of the highschools around the state.” Eggemeyer said.
One of Hornecker’s goals as president of WACTE is to help teachers find success in their jobs.
“Whether that is they have a better day at work or they need more tools to help students find success.” He said.
He believes WACTE allows educators and industry members to touch more students than they would see in their own classrooms.
“We see a lot of teachers that are leaving the teaching profession, unfortunately. Maybe the pay isn’t what it could be for them compared to if they were to go out and get a job in the industry.” Hornecker said. “But we’re short of good teachers.”
Harvard Business School states: “The market for middle-skills jobs—those that require more education and training than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree—is consistently failing to clear.”
Organizations like WACTE, aim to fill this gap by providing professional development for teachers so they can better support their students, encouraging more young people to pursue the education needed for these middle-skills jobs.
Hornecker’s goals also include increasing membership of the association and creating awareness for career and technical education in the Wyoming legislature. In June of 2025, WACTE’s summer conference will be held at CC.
“We’re creating more visibility, not only for our faculty to be involved, but visibility of other faculty and teachers from across the state coming to Casper College so we can highlight some of the things we as a school do well at.” Hornecker said.
Hornecker and other WACTE representatives have pushed for funding for career and technical education in Wyoming. In the past, WACTE has led the charge for legislature that benefits students and teachers.
“The biggest of these was a bill which changed the Hathaway Scholarship Honors curriculum to allow for Career and Technical classes to count so Wyoming students who qualify with their ACT and GPA, can also now count Career and Technical classes to meet the required curriculum to qualify.” Hornecker said.
Whether it be in the legislature or summer conferences, as a teacher or a faculty member, Hornecker is dedicated to the success of not just his students, but all students in career and technical education in Wyoming.