MPCC Honors Susi Bolt as 2025 Faculty Member of the Year

Susi Bolt, of McCook, has been selected to receive the 2025 Faculty Member of the Year Award from Mid-Plains Community College.

Bolt was nominated by MPCC cabinet members based on her long-standing commitment to helping students succeed in the classroom, her ongoing support of athletics and her dedication to the McCook campus.  She was recognized Sunday during the Nebraska Community College Association’s annual meeting in Lincoln.

About Bolt

After more than three decades of shaping minds and boosting student confidence, Susi Bolt’s story embodies the very spirit of the college.

Bolt’s journey at Mid-Plains began in 1991, when she was hired part-time by Judi Haney to work in what was then called the Individualized Learning Center (ILC) in McCook.

Three years later she became a faculty member, teaching mathematics while running the Student Success Center. Eventually, she transitioned to full-time teaching — her favorite role of all.

“I’ve always loved teaching,” Bolt says. “The other jobs were just part of what I was hired to do, but teaching has always been my passion.”

Bolt didn’t start out planning to teach. Growing up in Culbertson, she enrolled at McCook Community College on a basketball scholarship and initially intended to go into accounting.

That changed thanks to the influence of her own math instructor at MCC, Stan Garretson. “He truly cared about every one of his students,” she says. “He was passionate about teaching, and that inspired me to go into math education.”

Bolt went on to complete her degree at Kearney State (now UNK) and taught math for grades 7–12 at Maywood High School for four years, also coaching volleyball and basketball. By the time she joined MPCC full-time, she was raising a young family and ready to put down roots closer to home.

“My favorite part of teaching is connecting with students and building their confidence in math,” she explains. “A lot of students struggle because they don’t think they can do it. But if you can make them believe they can, they usually will.”

For Bolt, the most rewarding experiences are often the smallest. “When you hand back an assignment or test and see the look on a student’s face — the smile, the relief — that’s what I live for,” she says.

That dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed. Known for attending athletic events and finding ways to connect with students beyond the classroom, Bolt says she learned early on how much those personal touches matter.

“If you have a high percentage of student-athletes, you have to connect with them through what they do and what they like,” she says.

Now in her 34th year at MPCC, Bolt reflects on her time with gratitude.

“Since I started here as a student myself, then worked part-time and eventually became faculty, I’ve seen every level of how a small college comes together to help students succeed,” she says. “When I was a student, so many people helped me, and I’ve always wanted to have that same impact on others.”

Outside of work, Bolt enjoys spending time with her three children and seven grandchildren, all of whom live nearby. She calls herself “lucky” to see them regularly — a blessing she knows not everyone has.

Though she’s humbled by the Faculty Member of the Year honor, Bolt sees it as a reflection of the college as a whole.

“I don’t feel like I’m more deserving than anyone else,” she says. “I’ve just been blessed to be part of this institution for so many years, surrounded by great people.”