Ms. Matulewicz, or “Ms. Mat,” grew up in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where she enjoyed an active childhood playing basketball, soccer, tennis, and lacrosse. Now in her seventh year teaching Health and PE, she brings her passion for athletics and the need to live healthier lifestyles to students. Her first teaching job was at Corporate Landing for five years, and she is currently in her second year at CHS.
Q: What do you teach, and how long have you been teaching? Why did you decide to focus on Health and PE?
A: “I currently teach 10th grade Health and PE, and I’ve been teaching for seven years in total. My mom is a classroom teacher, and when I was figuring out what I wanted to major in, we talked about teaching as a career choice. She said that it’s a lot more work, a lot more grading and dealing with parents when you’re in the classroom setting, but I love sports and coaching, so I looked into becoming a PE teacher, and that was the first time I was introduced to the idea. When I went and observed my first class in college, I fell in love with it.”
Q: How are you involved with the school?
A: “I coach Varsity girls basketball, and I am an Operation Smile sponsor. I also announce at lacrosse games, and I am a sponsor for the badminton and pickleball club.”
Q: How would you describe your teaching style?
A: “I’m a very hands-on type of teacher. For example, we just did finished a project because it can be really boring for me in the classroom. Especially when I’m in PE, I feel like, why am I doing work? So, I like to be more hands-on and to create a safe environment to let people know that they can come to me with really anything. I like to let students know even though I’m an authority figure, I still see them as an equal.”
Q: How has tearing your ACL affected your teaching?
A: “I tore it during basketball practice back in November. I had the surgery in February and I think the biggest thing that has affected teaching is that I can’t move around like I used to. I can’t play with the kids right now. I’ll get back to that, it will just be awhile. Then I was out and missed 14 school days. Physically, I still felt close with the kids when I came back, but the hardest part was reiterating the rules that I have in PE and in the classroom, since all they had were substitutes. The students were all super great; they’re still really great if I need any help. Overall, the biggest thing is I just can’t move around like I could before I got the surgery.”
Q: How do you mentally stay positive through everything?
A: “I think I just know it was in my plan and that it was going to happen. There’s nothing I can do about it other than put in the work and have a good attitude. If I don’t, it’s only going to make it worse. I decided to make the best out of a situation I cannot change, I just need to have a good mindset about it. I think that mentality shows the students that anyone can get injured, go through a long recovery, but still have a good mental state.”
Q: How do you balance your social media and professional life? What are some obstacles that come with that?
A: “It’s hard for sure and it’s been a learning curve because teaching is my passion and my number one goal. Social media just kind of happened, it’s definitely worth putting in time because I have created a new source of revenue for myself. I now have different opportunities and work with different kinds of brands across a variety of social media platforms. But at the end of the day, I just need to check in with myself and know that I wouldn’t be in the position to thrive on social media if I didn’t have teaching. So, teaching is always going to be first. The reason why I was able to create a platform was through my career. The biggest obstacle that I face is just having millions of opinions that watch my social media and making sure that I’m respecting my students privacy along with my privacy, the school’s privacy, and ultimately making sure my administration is happy with what I’m putting out there. What I’m presenting to the world represents our community as well. It’s kind of like how my students’ actions represent me. Before posting, I’m always triple checking and making sure if our principal was watching right now, that person would be okay with it. I definitely have needed to change and take down some things after hearing other opinions, but just making sure everything’s appropriate and I’m respecting everyone.”
Q: What impact do you wish to have on your students?
A: “I want my students to know that no matter what, they can always look at life with positivity. I live by a positive, “glass half full” mentality. No matter what happens, there’s always going to be some light that you can look at and I want to be able to show my students that in life you should always try to look at the positive in a terrible situation. Try to find at least one positive thing, change your mindset on it, and it will change the outcome.”
Q: What’s most rewarding about your job?
A: “So many things! I think being able to watch my students grow and staying in contact with them has been the coolest thing for me. I have kids in college now or kids I taught in middle school that I talk to now. The fact that they want to email me and do a little check in or message me is so rewarding that they’re thinking of their middle school health and PE teacher. I think about what teachers I had growing up and who I would want to email right now, and I can’t really think of a lot. So, it’s always so rewarding to know that I made that much of a difference that 10 years later, they still want to come back and check in with me. That’s definitely the coolest thing. I love it.”
