From 1999 to 2020, Matt Hayden has a winning record any coach of a sport would envy: 20 back-to-back state titles. Whether they be in welding or sheet metal work, the Polk County College and Career Academy welding instructor continues to produce winning talent.

So what’s his secret to the success over two decades of competition in SkillsUSA?

Hayden said it comes from having high expectations and standards for each and every student he takes on in his classes and is behind how he gets youth to perform at a top-caliber level in the state year after year.

“Good students make the difference as well,” he added.

Hayden, honored on November 2 with the special SkillsUSA banner as a surprise, said that throughout the years he has enjoyed working with some of the best and brightest young people in Polk County in the welding program, and providing them with the chance to advance based on their own talents and what he can teach them.

“There’s so many of them that it would be hard to narrow them down. Of course, Ryan (Fincher) exceeded all expectations, but we’ve had a lot of students who have gone on and seen great success in their careers,” Hayden said when asked if he had any specific students that stick out in his mind over the years.

“They all have a different and special place in my heart, each one for a different reason,” he added.

During the annual regional, state and national competitions that Hayden has been providing students with practical education for two decades as an instructor first at CHS in the CTAE (Career, Technical and Agriculture Education) program, and now within the College and Career Academy. He also previously served as the Bulldogs soccer coach.

His run hasn’t come in a back-to-back fashion either. Some years he might miss seeing a student earn a ring, but over the past several years titles have come to students in several areas will bring home a state title and earn a ring, and not just in welding. When all added up together, the latest title won by Evan Holder this past spring marked his 20th his time in education.

His goal as always is to keep working hard to help students excel at every level and have an opportunity to learn, but also come out as winners.

“It’s absolutely my goal to go out there and try,” he said. “Every year we try to have a new kid come into our programs be successful in whatever they do.”