Teacher Feature
In this feature article, Aylah Graves discusses the importance of great teachers by highlighting one of our teachers at GPHS, Mr. Mathews.
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Teacher Feature: Mr. Mathews
Teacher Feature: Mr. Mathews
By Aylah Graves
By Aylah Graves
Mr. Mathews is one of our teachers here at GPHS. He has been teaching full time for a total of 14 years and he currently teaches World Cultures and Leadership. Mr. Mathews has taught leadership for six years. He previously coached middle school basketball for nine years and advised Mock Trial for two years at GPHS. Currently, his involvement with the Leadership team is vital. Students in leadership plan fundraisers, dances, assemblies and much more, all while working with Mr. Kellogg and Mr. Mathews.
One of the most important characteristics about being a teacher is building relationships with students. Being a teacher for so long creates the opportunity to meet new students and form new connections. Mathews says that his favorite part about teaching is getting to be around so many new people. He states, “ I love getting to be in so many kids' lives and every day with my students brings new and fun interactions”. Many students regard his teaching as entertaining and the curriculum is meaningful. A sophomore student of Mr.Mathews states, “ His class is always so engaging. I appreciate how much he works to not just lecture, make us take notes and read out of a textbook. Even if what we are learning might not be the most fun to teach, he definitely tries to keep us interested.”
Being a teacher has its difficulties. The COVID-19 pandemic caused several additions to the challenges in several different ways for all. Mr. Mathews says that teaching during the pandemic was “Difficult to build relationships online. I appreciate having long term relationships with my students so only seeing them on computer screens was rough.” Another challenge he elaborated on was “Being back in school with COVID-19, kids are less excited to be here and the normal exciting high school experiences are being missed out on.” It is difficult for some students to want to show up when they have missed out on so much in these last few years.
As some students may know, Mathews has a macular degenerative eye disease. This causes partial blindness in his vision. He says this definitely affects his teaching, but even for the better. He acknowledges that, the longer he teaches, the more he believes his blindness makes him a better teacher. He says, “Someone explained to me that I'm very organized with my classroom and the way I teach my classes. I have to be because I'm blind and cannot see. I have to be specific and plan things out.” He also adds, “The best thing about my blindness is that it causes me to move around and interact with students instead of sitting in my chair being able to see.” His blindness must definitely have some challenges, but he offers an interesting perspective on it as a teacher, as well.
Not every teacher is the same and not every background story on the reason behind why they chose that career path is the same. Mathews says the reason he became a teacher is not the reason why he is still teaching. He states “I was a business major and decided I don't want to sit in an office for the rest of my life and decided I needed to change my plans. I loved sports and history and so I thought I could teach history and coach sports. I still love those things, but that's not why I'm still a teacher. I’m still a teacher because I love to be able to have relationships with my students and help them and watch them grow.”
Mr. Mathews has a lot of advice he would give to high schoolers. One of the most valuable pieces of advice he would give is to get involved. As cliché as it may sound, it is true. He states, “I tell kids that I ran cross country and I hated it but don’t regret it. I regret not doing the things that I could've done but didn’t choose to do. Get involved in whatever you have opportunities to do so when you leave here you can say you did everything you possibly could’ve. You will have your memories forever so try to create as many as possible.”
Mr. Mathews teaches at GPHS along with his wife, Mrs. Mathews. He says that the best part of teaching with his wife is that “Everyone loves my wife. When people realize that she's my wife, it's really cool to hear them talk about how they love her because that also gives me credibility.” He adds, “It's also very cool to have students in both of our classes. We can talk about the same kids and go and watch their games and other events. I like being able to invest in the same community together.”
Mathews very deeply values his students. He says, “I value kids being honest and I love when they meet me where they are at which allows me to work with their needs and issues. I love to know what they want out of school so I can help them with that. He says that it is also important to him when kids engage in class and put in effort to make it fun and try to give their best. Mathews says, “Your day flies by when they have fun. It's all about your mindset and it can make things as good as they can be or as miserable. I love to see people want to be successful over the course of their four years. It's great to see students push themselves past what they believed they could have ever done. “
Teachers are so important to the lives of students. They teach us academically, but also teach us how to succeed in the future. Showing your appreciation for them makes a difference. Thank you, Mr.Mathews, for everything you do.
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