He got held back in high school. Now he’s Durham’s Teacher of the Year.
First Sgt. Jeffery Matthews, a JROTC instructor at Hillside High School, has been named 2023-24 Durham Public Schools Teacher of the Year.
“It’s a passion,” said Matthews, who is in his seventh year of teaching at the school.
“You’ve got to have a passion for it; 99 percent of the teachers have a passion for this work,” he said in a news release.
“We are counselors, mentors, coaches, guiding lights,” said Mathews, who told the audience during a celebration was held at The Cotton Room on Thursday that he was a forgotten student whose potential was overlooked so he repeated 11th grade.
“The landscape is changing, so how do we engage and make everyone feel good enough to know they have potential? You have to know the kids in some aspect. That’s what builds classroom culture. You have to take the me out of the picture.”
Mathews, a retired Army veteran from Angier, received a 2024 Toyota Camry from Marc Jacobson Toyota with an additional prize pack that included a Lenovo laptop computer, gift certificates for coffee, a massage, tickets to a Durham Bulls game, restaurants, movie and live show outings, an overnight hotel stay, and an engraved keychain.
Teacher of the Year finalists were Morandi Hurst of Lakewood Montessori Middle School and Yaritza Prendergast of Neal Middle School. Hurst and Prendergast received a framed certificate and an award of $500, reported ABC11, The News & Observer’s newsgathering partner.
