For Valparaiso High English teacher Matt Thomas, teaching is more than lecturing the fine points of a Shakespeare play or evaluating an essay.
“Work works” and other inspirational quotes line the walls in his classroom. Desks are in groupings that force students to talk to each other, not face Thomas.
Now in his 27th year of teaching, Thomas is fulfilled when his students learn by staying on task. More importantly, they know he cares.
“He taught me in a way that made a lot of sense,” said junior Charlotte Wells, 16. “Everyone liked him. I’m not surprised he’s up for the honor.”
Midway through her freshman year, she lapsed into a dark period.
“I got sad. I stopped doing assignments,” she said.
As Wells fell behind, other teachers issued warnings.
“He was the only teacher who supported me. I just knew he was there. He helped me and I caught back up. I always felt more important than the school work,” she said.
Thomas is one of three finalists to be Indiana’s 2024 Teacher of the Year, along with Brandon Denning, a mathematics teacher at Indianapolis Public Schools’ Center for Inquiry 84, and Eric Jenkins, an English teacher at Franklin Community High School.
When word got out Thomas was a finalist, he said his family and colleagues joked and rejoiced.
“For the most part, they gave me a hard time but it’s all good natured. My colleagues, I know they’re happy for me, but we joke a lot. They know it wasn’t easy to get to this point because they’re in the trenches with me.”
Thomas said VHS Principal Veronica Tobin and Superintendent James McCall encouraged him and supported him to apply for the honor.
McCall said Thomas spends his mornings as an instructional coach assisting his peers to improve research-based instruction.
McCall said colleagues welcome Thomas into their classrooms because of the respect he’s earned in the school community.
“Personally, I enjoy observing his classroom because of the high level of engagement he inspires from his students; his classroom is best characterized as being lively with discussion while being deep in reflection and growth.”
Thomas said studying teaching techniques and experimenting in the classroom led to his successful rat-a-tat-tat approach.
“We try to do something different every 10 minutes,” he said. It’s a teaching style that recognizes kids’ short attention spans and also challenges them to remain engaged and productive.
“You have to keep teachers current with trends and best practices,” he said.
His own freshmen are about to tackle “To Kill a Mockingbird,” a frequently banned book, followed by “Romeo and Juliet.”
Thomas, whose late mother Maureen was a children’s librarian in Valparaiso and father Dan is a retired Boone Grove High teacher, is dismayed by today’s political climate.
“I hope that things will get better and the pendulum will swing back. I think the teacher shortage will have something to do with it,” he said.
“I’m looking at kids who had no say in whatever laws were made… the focus needs to be on the kids.”
Thomas played basketball and soccer at Valparaiso High until he graduated in 1992 and headed off to study education at Indiana University.
When he returned to teach at VHS, he served as varsity boys’ basketball coach for a couple years before resigning to coach track to his own kids, Grace and Owen. Grace is now at DePauw University and Owen is a VHS sophomore.
Because of influences like social media, it’s rough being a kid these days, Thomas said.
“There a loneliness epidemic in our country now and I’m trying to fight that,” he said.
Small changes like arranging desks to face others help.
“I have them talk to each other in every class,” he said.
Thomas said he can’t see himself being anything but a teacher.
“Money has never really motivated me, I’ve never been impressed by it. The experience of speaking to other teachers, that intrigues me.”
Students value Thomas’ presence in their lives.
“Teaching is a hard job and I feel Mr. Thomas was made for teaching,” Wells said.
“Whenever I talk with him, he immediately wants me to be a better person.”
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
