NORFOLK, Neb. – It would be difficult to find a more fitting award for Mike Roeber.
The Northeast Community College ag instructor and livestock judging coach recently was presented the NACTA Judging and Student Service Award at the mid-summer conference in Wooster, Ohio.
Livestock judging and students are two of Roeber’s passions. He grew up on a farm in rural Ashland, showing beef cattle. Rober has been an animal science instructor and livestock judging coach at Northeast since 1998. He also taught ag education at Sandhills Public School in Dunning before that.
Roeber said he feels fortunate to receive the honor, saying, “I am humbled.”
The North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture (NACTA) is a professional society, which includes members from both two-year and four-institutions.
The NACTA Judging and Student Service Award is presented annually to a faculty member who has provided exceptional service to students, with special emphasis on those coaching competitive judging teams who have participated in the annual NACTA Judging Conference.
Other areas of consideration include involvement in other student service activities, teaching accomplishments, and integration of the nominees judging program and activities with the overall academic experience and institution’s mission.
Kevin Donnelly, emeritus professor at Kansas State University, has been a supporter of Roeber, having encouraged him to apply for the award in previous years.
“I kept putting it off,” Roeber said. “Part of it was it (the mid-summer conference) was going on at the same time as the 4-H state judging contest in Nebraska, which I help with a lot.”
Roeber finally agreed to enter this year, with Donnelly’s assistance. The award criteria included letters from a Northeast administrator and faculty member and contacts from former students taught by Roeber.
Roeber has his bachelor of science in animal science and agriculture education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his master’s in science in vocational education from the University of Nebraska-Kearney. His primary courses include animal science, feeds and feeding, animal reproductive physiology, swine production management, advanced animal nutrition and livestock judging.
This year’s Northeast livestock judging team is expected to have eight or nine members. Roeber and his Northeast livestock judging team members will be putting on 4-H and FFA judging contests this year at several county fairs, which begin this week.
Roeber has coached teams competing in livestock judging and other areas at the NACTA judging conference and leads the Northeast delegation that regularly competes in over half of the contests for the sweepstakes award. This past April, Northeast students finished in second place in sweepstakes and earned 30 awards for two-year colleges.
He has provided many years of leadership to the NACTA conference, serving as president of the coaches association since 2015. He was the coordinator for the 2018 judging conference hosted by Northeast and was heavily involved when Northeast hosted in 2005.
Roeber honored
Mike Roeber, who has been an animal science instructor and livestock judging coach at Northeast Community College since 1998, was awarded the NACTA Judging and Student Service Award last month in Ohio. (Northeast Community College)
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