Matthew Eddy, son of Marlin and Sandy Eddy of rural Osceola, graduated from Clarke Community School District and will be the keynote speaker for the 94th Clarke County Farm Bureau annual meeting, Thursday, June 6. The Clarke County Cattlemen will begin serving their hamburgers at 6 p.m. then Eddy will take the floor.
Eddy grew up on a diversified farm south of Osceola. After graduating from Clarke Community High School, he attended Iowa State University majoring in agriculture education – earning a Bachelor of Science degree in 1999 and Master of Science degree in 2008. Currently he is in his 14th year of teaching; first at Indianola and the last 9 years at the Southeast Polk Community School district.
Matthew is a CASE Certified Master Teacher and will hold certifications in AFNR, Animal Science, Plant Science and Biotechnology at the end of the summer. He also does LEAD teacher work by instructing Curriculum Institutes to train other agriculture teachers on the CASE curriculum. He authored both Governor’s STEM Scale-Up grants — securing funding in upwards of $830,000 dollars in year one — for Iowa agriculture programs to participate in adopting the CASE model.
The Southeast Polk FFA chapter is one of Iowa’s largest chapters and one major activity each year is the Animal Learning Center at the Iowa State Fair. During the 132-hour operation of the display, chapter members care for the livestock, interact with the public and help be a voice for agriculture. Eddy’s Advanced Animal Science class also manages the 23 head cow herd year-round and participates in all of the cultural practices to return the cows pregnant for each fair – including a summer LAB section, which bridges the gap between school year and the Iowa State Fair.
Eddy is involved in his professional organizations through the “Teach Ag” campaign helping to recruit and retain agriculture teachers, blogging about “A Day in the Life of an Ag Teacher” on the NAAE Communities of Practice site and through his interactions on twitter - @AgEd4ME – he helps build awareness of his profession.
Eddy’s wife Carol is a principal with the Ankeny school district and his three children, Owen, 7, Olivia, 3, and Isaac, 2, keep him busy at home in Pleasant Hill.