From the time Trent Peper could walk, he “helped” his grandfather work on tractors and equipment on the family farm. Through agricultural education and FFA, Peper’s life-long passion for agricultural mechanics became the focus of his career.

Peper, a former vice president of the Adair FFA chapter, now teaches diesel and heavy equipment technology at the Northeast Technology Center’s Pryor campus, using his skills to develop the same passion in his students.

“My goal is to put information in terms everyone can understand and to teach students ‘why’ what they are learning is important,” said Peper, who has taught for 14 years. “Mr. [Dennis] DeLozier is the one who taught me to do that.”

DeLozier was Peper’s agricultural education teacher and FFA advisor at Adair. “Trent is one of the few students who took his supervised agricultural experience program and developed a career,” DeLozier said. “He was always focused on what he wanted to do.”

Peper’s focus in FFA was in the shop, building bale feeders, barrel troughs, a welding trailer and countless small projects. Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfathers, he worked at home on corrals and farm equipment, including rebuilding a Massey-Ferguson tractor. He also owned a small cow/calf herd and showed steers.

His SAE program earned him top state proficiency award honors in beef production and in agricultural mechanics. In 1989, Peper won the National Agricultural Mechanics Proficiency Award area and an FFA trip to Europe, which he said is still vivid in his mind. “I was the only agricultural mechanics finalist that year who worked on a family farm,” Peper said. “FFA provided me with the opportunity to excel in the things I love, and you become a leader even though you might not know it.”

Following high school, Peper earned an associate’s degree in diesel and heavy equipment technology at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee. “There’s nothing better than the smell of diesel smoke in the morning,” Peper said with a grin.

After OSU, Peper worked as a diesel serviceman on heavy equipment for Warren Cat (formerly DARR Equipment) in Tulsa, Okla., before beginning his teaching career at Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater. “I didn’t realize until my last year at OSU that I actually enjoyed education,” Peper said. “I didn’t want to quit learning and being involved.”

Peper started teaching at NTC’s Kansas, Okla., campus in 1996 and moved to the Pryor campus in 2004.

“Trent Peper is one of my best teachers because he goes above and beyond what is required to teach his trade,” said Greg Mitchell, assistant superintendent for NTC’s Pryor campus. “His students learn the technical aspect of diesel mechanics, but Trent also instills pride, professionalism, character, and courtesy within each of his students and co-workers.”

The NTC teachers have elected Peper as their organizational president for several years, and Mitchell said he frequently asks Peper to serve as a mentor for new teachers.

“I truly believe that Trent Peper is a tribute to his family, FFA advisor, and friends,” Mitchell said. “My only regret is that I can't clone him.”

In addition to teaching, Peper still operates a 250-head cow/calf  operation with his father, Art Peper, and bales hay for his operation as well as for his neighbors. He and his wife, Kathy, live with their  children, Caleb, 5, and Kelsey, 3, just a mile from the family farm.

Peper also uses his FFA leadership background to serve his community as a captain and training officer for the Adair Volunteer Fire Department, having written more than $350,000 in grants to expand the department. Of course, he also helps repair the equipment.

“I get as dirty as my students,” Peper said. “I want my students to learn by example, just like Mr. DeLozier did with us in the shop. He prepared me for more than pulling wrenches. That agricultural education class prepared me to be a teacher, and I didn’t even know it.”