The 2024-25 Wyoming FFA State Officer Team with Superintendent Megan Degenfelder (center). Officers include, from left to right: Shawn Bassart, Anthony Quick, Spencer Rabou, Wyatt Blackmore, Riley Banker, Emmer Pehringer, Shelby Clark, Ahnya Ivie-Moody and Sage Wells.
For Wyoming State Superintendent of Education Megan Degenfelder, serving is no strange concept in her daily life. Elected in 2022, Degenfelder leads Wyoming Public Education and has truly made her mark on Wyoming Career and Technical Education (CTE).
Since Degenfelder was elected, she made a promise to her constituents to reform Wyoming Education the way stakeholders want. She has planned six initiatives for her elected time, one of the most notable being “Preparing Students For Jobs Through CTE,” which is 73% complete. Goals for this initiative include increasing workforce credentials, updating the state Perkins Plan, increasing participation in CTE student organizations and more.
Superintendent Megan Degenfelder.
Expanding CTE and FFA Across Wyoming
When asked about her motivations behind expanding and supporting CTE, Degenfelder said, “Coming into this position from the private sector, I experienced firsthand the struggles of hiring a skilled workforce and the issue of students not graduating with the real-world skills necessary to be successful in jobs. With all issues, you can choose to complain about a problem, or you can do something about it. So, I chose to run for this position and to do something about it. I believe CTE is truly the answer to our problems in education. By allowing students to focus on what is actually needed for their future, not only are they more likely to be motivated, they are more likely to possess the skills needed for real jobs.”
Additionally, Degenfelder believes FFA is special in many different aspects, and she supports and serves all 4,163 members of Wyoming FFA.
“FFA continues to demonstrate that workforce preparedness is more than just memorizing facts from a textbook,” she says. “It is interpersonal skills, work ethic, teamwork and innovation. It is about recognizing that every student learns differently, pathway options make students more excited to show up for school every day, and pathway options make them more successful. FFA shows education policy makers what needs to be prioritized in our education. It isn’t nice to have a program; it is a must-have program. That is why I led an initiative during my first legislative session in office to double the funding for CTE student organizations, including FFA, for the first time in 25 years.”
Future Plans
As for the future, Degenfelder doesn’t plan to stop serving. “I will forever be committed to a life of service, which includes my public government service, volunteering as a coach and at my church, fostering rescue dogs or simply helping my neighbor when no one is looking. ‘Living to Serve’ isn’t just about what you do in the big ways — it is about what you do in the very smallest ways. Some of the greatest leaders in my life do not hold a political position of power or the title of CEO. They are often those that go unnoticed, but make the most difference.”
