If Yavapai College Horticulture Professor Justin Brereton ever turns up missing, search the greenhouse at the Chino Valley Agribusiness Center. That’s where he likes to hang out and hone his teaching skills.

It’s also where the self-described “lunatic professor” said he felt like disappearing after learning he is a finalist for a national post-secondary Career and Technical Education Teacher of the Year award.

“It’s weird to be singled out when so many people are doing so many amazing things. It makes me want to go hide in the greenhouse, ” said Justin, whose national finalist status followed on the heels of the Arizona Association for Career and Technical Education and the multi-state ACTE Regional Teacher of the Year awards last summer and this spring, respectively. “I don’t like this kind of thing. I like to keep my head down and keep working.”

The reality is that Justin’s dual passions for horticulture and teaching led to the award streak that culminates this fall during the national ACTE conference in Phoenix. The passion is undeniable even if the recognition is humbling for a guy who asserts he is only doing what he loves and gets lots of help in the doing from his colleagues at the CV Center.

Without the unwavering support of Karen Smith, Rich Peterson, YC facilities personnel and many others at the college, Justin insists he couldn’t do what he does – give students of all ages hands-on experience cultivating and marketing all manner of flora using a mix of the latest science, technology and physical labor. Nor could he balance his career responsibilities with those of his family. He and his wife Lindsay share seven children ranging in age from infant to teenager.

The support he gets at home is equally invaluable, Justin said. “My wife is always propping me up. She loves being a mom and makes sure things are running smoothly at home so I can be a lunatic professor.”

Not surprisingly, Justin says he lives and works at one speed -- “Full force.”

Now in his sixteenth year at YC, Justin’s zeal for horticulture took root as a child growing up in the Phoenix area with a big back yard and parents who indulged his fascination with plants. “I was born wanting to grow things,” he said, relating stories of his youth building an intricate canal system for his garden, waiting for the morning school bus horn to wrest his attention away from his crops and profiting from the bounty he sold to family, neighbors and friends.

He parlayed his interest in plant life at Peoria High School, where he fought to be placed in agriculture classes as a freshman then turned the school’s greenhouse into a profitable business; at the University of Arizona; and as a professional nursery grower in Flagstaff, Page and the Verde Valley. He joined YC as an adjunct and dual enrollment instructor in 2007 after teaching at Mingus Union High School in Cottonwood for five years. He earned a full-time YC faculty position in 2010.

During Justin’s tenure, YC’s horticulture program has become the go-to space for backyard gardeners and future agriculture industry professionals alike. And, under his leadership, student-grown tomatoes and greens are mainstays in the recipes and on the shelves of area restaurants and food markets.

“Justin has a passion for transferring his expertise to others and Justin makes learning effortless,” former student Jennifer Ritter commented after seeing Justin and a horticulture class featured on YC’s Facebook page.

Asked about his teaching philosophy, Justin said an extended family of educators gave him the “the heart of a teacher.” Integral to education, he said, is “instilling confidence in others.” As for teaching horticulture specifically, he said, “My passion is easy to share. Most people like plants.”

Justin also ascribes to learning by doing, including making mistakes. He will tell his students, “lets go out and try it,” then work alongside them to watch the magic happen -- or not. He also incorporates in his teaching the knowledge and experiences his students bring to class and consistently keeps up with his own continuing education. “Every year I’ve either done internships, side work, consulting or learning from my own small (home) farm. “

When he’s not teaching or tending to a busy family life that includes gardening, youth sports and even running long-distance races together, Justin often can be found at the Chino Valley Center behind the wheel of a tractor mowing weeds, taking out the trash or repairing irrigation lines – whatever it takes to ensure that everything his students have planted flourish. “I’m not opposed to being a grunt,” he said.

At YC, Justin has made it his mantra to open the wide world of agriculture to people who haven’t yet discovered, like he did at a young age, that they were born to grow things. “Horticulture -- it’s a career, it’s a passion, it’s fitness, it’s food. There are so many layers that I’m trying to share with students. There’s no limit where people can go with it,” he said, adding, “Yavapai College is a stepping stone for people to go onto bigger things, whether that’s earning a Ph.D., owning their own business or growing better tomatoes in the back yard.”

Presumably on his way to an impromptu trip to the greenhouse, Justin said, “Horticulture is near and dear to me because I’ve lived it. It’s a labor of love I guess.”

For information about YC’s horticulture program and enrolling in classes with Justin this fall, visit www.yc.edu/horticulture.