Angola Woman Shares Love of Ag
Published: Friday, January 23, 2026
For one Steuben County woman, life is all about serving the community and passing on the love of agriculture.
"Every part of life is hit with agriculture, and I want the kids to know this. I don't want them taking it for granted that their milk is in a carton and their beef sits in a package at Walmart. They've got to know, and my goal is to teach these children that," Colleen Holman said as she reflected on receiving the 2025 Indiana Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom Volunteer of the Year Award.
She received the award at the annual Farm Bureau meeting in French Lick, Ind. in December.
Holman currently works as a volunteer at the Steuben County Literacy Foundation. She teaches Angola students in the after-school program about growing plants, making plastic, ice cream, popcorn and more. And her message to students is always the same: everything you have relies on agriculture.
"It's part of your whole life. You can't eat without a farmer, you'd have to go without clothing without a farmer, the football that the children want to play with out on the playground –they wouldn't have that," she said.
While Holman has only been active with the Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom program for about 15 years, she has been involved in farming and volunteering her entire life. It all started with her grandfather, who moved from Detroit, where he was a career policeman, to a grain farm in Michigan.
She grew up spending much of her time at her grandparents' house, even living there for a little while.
"I was always constantly there, either watching Grandma cook or helping Grandpa garden," she said.
She learned to bake and can food from her grandma and still uses her grandma's old cookbook from time to time.
"And Grandpa was very good with growing things. He taught me everything I would need to know about planting potatoes, planting onions and keeping weeds under control," she said. "I helped my grandpa garden, and he gave me the love of the land."
It is that love, she said, that drives her to teach others about agriculture.
"Agriculture's been my backbone, my life. My grandpa and grandma, everybody, has just been really strong in agriculture," Holman said.
Throughout her life, Holman has also been involved in teaching. She worked as a teacher's assistant, a principal's secretary, a Literacy Coalition coordinator and instructional assistant. In all of those roles, she has shared her love of agriculture with children.
From October to May, Colleen visits three schools in Angola to present a special learning program.
"I've had many, many kids tell me, 'My sunflowers' or 'My string beans grew and they were beautiful and they were good,'" she said.
One year, she led students in the cultivation of sweet potatoes.
"Those kids just loved watching it. Those sweet potatoes would just grow like crazy, and the kids would like measuring the length of the vines," she said.
But her favorite lesson to teach is her pizza lesson. She arrives to class in a themed pizza hat and apron, carrying a model pizza made of wall board, spray foam and yarn that shows the "slices," all covered in various toppings, which Holman connects back to agriculture.
"The kids just absolutely love that," she said.
She added that a local pizza parlor donates coupons for the students to receive a free pan pizza, and it is a hit.
When asked what it meant to receive the Volunteer of the Year Award, Holman said it was an honor, but it was all due to the children she teaches.
"It is a very nice dedication because my whole life I've volunteered. It's quite an honor," Holman said with tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. "I go to three classes, and two of these classes I've been with for probably five years now, they're the ones who really deserve to see this (award)."
She added that the students in those classes consistently vote Holman's Agriculture in the Classroom Program No. 1 over all the other special programs available, including woodworking, art and cooking.
In addition to all the volunteering she does individually, Holman is active in her community with her husband of 25 years, Ralph.
"When we got married, 25 years ago, he was the president Steuben County Farm Bureau, so he had been president for 30-plus years and everything just blended and flowed nicely," Holman said.
Not long after their marriage, they founded the Angola Farmers Market, now known as the Steuben County Farmers Market. Together, they also own and operate Holmangardenbug Produce, a vendor of the market, and they have managed the market since its inception.
The Holmans also volunteer at their church and serve as part of the leadership there, and Colleen has served at the local food bank, Project Help, and taught health and nutritional programs with the Extension office at the local shelters and around the county.
"People know who you are and a lot of times they know they can come to you with an agricultural question," she said, listing several examples. "People know they can come to us for that information."
But now, as the Holmans look toward a future retirement, Colleen has begun the process of passing the baton. Having shared her love of agriculture with all those around her, three have risen up to carry on her mission. Slowly, she is transferring her leadership at the Steuben County Literacy Coalition and at the farmers market to three partnering women, one with the Literacy Coalition, and two at the market.
While Colleen never plans to fully step away, "it's time for the younger ones to step up and go," she said.
And as they do, she can sit back and watch as a new generation takes on the task of cultivating a love of agriculture.
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