Things don’t always go according to plan.

Such is the case for Megan Thormodsgard who will soon find herself overseeing the state’s premier FFA program.

On the same night the Kingfisher Board of Education accepted the resignation of longtime FFA adviser and agriculture education teacher Ryan Burns, it hired the successor of him and his wife Lori.

The board voted unanimously Monday night to bring aboard Thormodsgard to lead the program into its next era. She is currently completing her student-teaching assignment at El Reno High School and is set to graduate later this month from Colorado State University with a double major in animal science and agriculture education.

“I had heard excellent comments from those in El Reno and others in the area who have worked around her,” Kingfisher Superintendent Jason Sternberger said.

“She is very energetic and willing to roll her sleeves up to get right to work.”

Thormodsgard inherits a program that last week was awarded the State FFA Sweepstakes award a record 18th consecutive year. Kingfisher holds the record not only for most consecutive wins, but most overall.

And most of those have come under the direction of Ryan and Lori Burns, both of whom were hired in 1999.

Initially it was a single-teacher program under Ryan, but Lori joined the program to make it a multi-teacher in 2008.

Since then, Kingfisher FFA has been synonymous with greatness.

However, Lori’s resignation was accepted at the April meeting and Ryan followed this month. She will teach junior high science at Dover and he is going to hold down a number of duties at Chisholm Trail Technology Center.

Both leave on good terms with a stated desire to try something new.

“My years at Kingfisher have truly been the best years of my life,” Burns said in his letter of resignation. “The school, community and students have been tremendous. I am forever thankful to have been given an opportunity to teach at such a tremendous school district and am also forever grateful for all you have done as a school board and continue to do for our school.”

Sternberger commended Burns for his contributions to the school district and community.

“He worked tirelessly for 20 years dedicating his life to this program,” Sternberger said. “He enriched the lives of many young men and women through FFA.”

A second FFA adviser will be hired at a later date to keep Kingfisher FFA a multi-teacher program, Sternberger said.

Thormodsgard was one of a dozen graduates from Briggsdale High School in northeastern Colorado in 2013 before attending CSU.

Once there, she ran for state FFA office and was elected State Reporter for 2015-16. In Colorado, students take a year off from college to serve their state FFA offices.

“It was a phenomenal experience,” she said.

Growing up, Thormodsgard was entrenched in the agriculture lifestyle.

“Production agriculture is embedded in me,” she said.  

She exhibited mostly cattle and hogs while in high school and served on the livestock judging, meat judging and meat animal evaluation teams while at CSU.

The double major and taking a year off to serve the state office prolonged her college career.

“I took a bit of an unconventional and very slow approach to graduating, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world,” she said.

Thormodsgard said she’s “very, very close” to her family, but wanted to experience FFA in Oklahoma.

“It’s much more competitive here, especially from the livestock side of things” she said, comparing it to her home state. “And it’s more hands-on here; there are more practical learning opportunities.”

That led her to El Reno, where she’s been working all semester under advisers Eric Bilderback and Mark McPeak.

Her plan, after that, was to attend graduate school at West Texas A&M.

However, her time at El Reno, Oklahoma’s enhanced FFA presence and timing will bring her back from the Centennial State after graduation from CSU.

“My student-teacher experience is all I could have asked for and more,” she said. This has been all the encouragement I’ve needed to know this is where I want to be.”

Then the Kingfisher position came open.

“The timing could not have been more perfect in applying for this position and all of the pieces of the puzzle just kind of fell into place from there,” she said.

Sternberger said Thormodsgard’s lack of experience wasn’t a deterrent. The fact she came to Oklahoma in the first place, he said, spoke volumes.

“She obviously wanted to challenge herself by coming into Oklahoma’s FFA program because it is much more diverse than Colorado’s,” he said.

“Her ambition to take over a program like ours says a lot about her confidence in herself and shows her desire to be the best. I know she has had a couple of chances to visit with Mr. and Mrs. Burns, so even though we are losing two of the very best FFA teachers, I think she has developed a relationship that she can lean on them for advice.”

Thormodsgard said she’s fully aware of the situation into which she’s stepping.

“This opportunity is too exciting and intriguing to pass up on, especially since I have a newly-discovered passion for Oklahoma FFA,” she said.

Thormodsgard has already visited KHS multiple times and met several of her future students. She’s also talked, in length, with both Burnses.

She said there’s no secret to the success of Kingfisher FFA.

She pointed out the quality of students and the unending community support inside and outside of the program.

And, Thormodsgard was quick to add, there’s the level of dedication poured into the program by her predecessors.

“It’s very clear from the outside looking in the work they’ve put into this program is second to none,” she said. “What they’ve done is phenomenal and that kind of work ethic is what it’s going to take to keep it going.”