After graduating from high school, Kari Gifford wanted to pursue a career in the ag industry. However, her first job out of college gave her a chance to work with kids in 4-H, and that eventually led to Gifford wanting to pursue a career in education so she could impact even more kids. She’s now been involved in education for 28 years, and she’s currently in her 27th year as an educator at Banner County Public Schools.
JEFF FIELDER Editor
HARRISBURG – When Kari Gifford graduated from Laramie High School in 1980, she wanted to pursue a career in the ag industry.
That wasn’t surprising considering she grew up on a ranch just outside of Laramie, and she and her siblings were heavily involved in 4-H. In addition, her father worked as a crop specialist for the University of Wyoming.
Kari attended the University of Wyoming herself, graduating from there in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in ag business. While she was attending UW, she got married in 1983 to Bill Gifford, who also was attending UW.
After they graduated from college, they moved to the farm where Bill grew up in Harrisburg. Not long after that, Kari landed a job working as a 4-H assistant at the Nebraska Extension Office in Kimball.
She enjoyed that job, but after working there for two years, she had a desire to try to impact even more kids. So, she started thinking about becoming a teacher.
“The job at the extension office gave me an opportunity to do what I wanted to do, which was work in the ag sector,” she said. “But after doing that for a while, I realized just how much I enjoyed working with kids. I thought education would be a fun career.”
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