The first day back from spring break, students in English teacher Bobby Forst?s classes were greeted by a surprising new face. Matthew Horne, the new long-term substitute, was also pleasantly surprised, although it remains to be seen if he will become a teacher here.
“I love Marshall,” Horne said. “The kids are really enthusiastic; I was expecting it to be a little tougher, but so far kids have been really involved.”
Horne feels that his time here has been “fantastic.” Despite being thrown in to teaching in the middle of the school year, he is optimistic about his time here. He attributes some of the ease of his transition to the help he got from other teachers and the team teaching system.
Horne appreciates this system because it takes “a lot of the load off of [his] shoulders.” It frees up time for his marriage and daughter.
His teaching style is inspired by his own life, and he puts emphasis on individuality.
“I get a lot of my inspiration from the records I collect,” Horne said. “I am inspired by the messages they send and the way that music can affect the youth.”
But for Horne, teaching is not all that music has inspired him to do.
“I collect records; that?s kind of my passion,” he said. In fact, Horne even “owns a record store down in Fairfax.”
Horne says his preferences in music are more creative than they used to be.
“I?m into psychedelic rock and experimental hip-hop,” he said. He added that his favorite artists are those that “bend the genres.”
Horne puts strong emphasis on the importance of the individualization of students? work.
“Put your own slant on [things],” he advises, “or relate [them] to something you?re passionate about, and they will always be good. I think students need to embrace that, especially in English class. And I think teachers want to see that.”
Horne has certainly personalized his classroom; he has even put up many posters, including several of Sesame Street characters.
When asked about them, he complained about the lack of quality in children?s television shows and today explains that “[my daughter] is going to watch the Muppets and Sesame Street, I?m not going to let her watch what?s on television right now.”