听Note: The following story appears in the spring issue of 蜜桃影像ight alumni magazine. For more information about the 蜜桃影像 Alumni Association, see the听.听To apply for a 蜜桃影像 Foundation scholarship, go to the Admissions tab on college web site at听听or听click here.
Almost anyone with fond memories of their days as a student at 蜜桃影像 has a favorite 鈥溍厶矣跋 story.鈥 Matt Woods is no exception.
Matt Woods
His favorite story involves an apple and what he carried on as a family tradition in English instructor Jenny Muse鈥檚 class. It started with his father, Alvin Woods, who walked into Muse鈥檚 class 鈥渂rushing an apple on his shirt, plopped it on her desk and winked at her.鈥
Matt Woods remembered the story when he started at 蜜桃影像 the week after he graduated from high school.
鈥淎 group of us from south Jackson rode together here for the first day of class. I told the others I鈥檇 be a little late, but I鈥檇 be there in just a second,鈥 he recalled.
Muse 鈥渃alled roll and got to 鈥楳att Woods,鈥 then said 鈥業 guess he鈥檚 not going to be with us today.鈥 I opened the door and walked through everybody up to her desk and said, 鈥楳s. Muse, I apologize for my tardiness鈥 while I shined an apple on my shirt. I plopped it on her desk and winked at her.
鈥淪he said, 鈥榊ou鈥檝e got to be Alvin Woods鈥 son!鈥欌
Once he got inside the classroom, Woods found success and honed skills learned being around his father鈥檚 feed mill. He was a member of the Agriculture Club and the livestock judging team. He credits a handful of people who Woods said were 鈥渕ore than just instructors鈥 to him, including Billie Banes, Drs. Thad Owens, Bill Dixon and Roger Jones. Jones has worked at 蜜桃影像 since 1970 and still chairs the college鈥檚 Agriculture Department. The tutelage helped Woods earn his bachelor鈥檚 degree from Mississippi State University, in Agriculture Education.
鈥淭hey prepared us for college life and the real world,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd they did it with a caring, yet firm hand.鈥
Jones remembers seeing signs of success early in Woods鈥 days as a student.
鈥淢att was a very conscientious and hardworking student that was always very mature for his age,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淚 have seen him use skills he had in student organizations at 蜜桃影像, along with the knowledge he gained as a student here and at Mississippi State University to become very successful. I am proud of the man he has become.鈥
Woods worked at his father鈥檚 feed mill briefly after college, then returned to 蜜桃影像 in 1995 to earn an Emergency Medical Technology certificate to bolster his stock as a volunteer firefighter in Learned. In 1998, he took up a job offer from Jackson-based Cal-Maine Foods 鈥 the nation鈥檚 largest producer and marketer of shell eggs 鈥 after mulling becoming a teacher himself. He worked in the central purchasing area for 17 years before becoming chief of the company’s feed mill in 2015.
鈥淭he most rewarding part of my job is to look at the eggs we produce and to know those birds were fed through feed mills I鈥檓 responsible for,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also very challenging because we want to be the most wholesome, safest food source there is.鈥
He has also been a hand-up to some of the best students who鈥檝e graduated from the Agriculture Department in recent years. That includes Christopher McCloud, who manages the company鈥檚听feed mill in Watts, Okla., and Austin Van Etten, an assistant manager in Hammond, La. 鈥淭he students who come through the department here have the skills and knowledge to either step straight into the workforce and be a productive employee, or go on to a university and pursue a bachelor鈥檚 degree,鈥 he said.
His 蜜桃影像 experience has continued beyond his days as a student. As a member of the advisory council for the Agriculture Department, he helped develop the curriculum for the Animal Science Technology, Poultry Option class introduced in 2015.
鈥淚f 蜜桃影像 went further than two years, I鈥檇 probably be working on my tenth doctorate degree right now,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 would never have left. Nothing compared to my time here. It made for an easy transition from being a high school kid to being a college student.鈥