New teacher Matt Johnson inspires a new generation of CTE students
Written by Liam Potocsnak, Former Student on Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Walking down the stairs to D building’s lowest level, there is a forceful array of sounds drowning out the chatter and footfalls of students walking above. Following the buzzing and rumbling of machining equipment leads to a classroom where students are measuring and calculating dimensions, compressing sheets of carbon fiber, and cutting it out to fit the prints. The room looks more like a professional shop than a high school class, but in a class where the teaching and the equipment are at a professional caliber, perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise.
Matt Johnson, machine and pathways teacher at Snohomish High School, doesn’t have to run a tight ship. It runs itself. In the shop, Johnson is almost indiscernible from his students, working at the machines and testing materials along with the class, teaching more by example than direction.
“Mr. Johnson is an excellent teacher,” says Vince Salvedalena, a junior who is in Johnson’s machining and welding class. “He’s down to earth, more of an equal. He actually works with us.”
Johnson has not had many years to perfect his method, however. He is a new teacher at SHS, brought in to rework the Career and Technical Education curriculum and make optimal use of the multi-million dollar machinery in the shop.
To best use this equipment, Steve Cotterill, director of CTE for Snohomish School District, says that Johnson’s curriculum was designed with regards to local industries.
“There are over 700 aerospace companies in the Puget Sound alone,” says Cotterill. Classes also incorporate facets of the biotechnology, marine, and agriculture industries.
Classes are required by state law to develop a curriculum along with local industry: the woods and composites class heavily emphasizes materials and procedures used in the aerospace industry, such as the testing and use of carbon fiber. SHS also cooperates with Everett Community College to establish numerous education pathways in different fields extending beyond high school.
More importantly, the courses teach broadly applicable skills like scientific testing and mathematics that will allow students to be successful and innovative in any field. The focus on making the class material that way stems from the belief that CTE classes should give students the tools to quickly learn and advance in any field they choose.
“I recommend you find out who you are, what you are, and what you want to do,” says Cotterill, who champions that belief.
The curriculum’s effectiveness is ultimately determined by the teacher. In addition to developing the new curriculum, Johnson applies it daily in his classes, teaching students “not just how to do something, but why it’s that way.” His students measure and calculate for their own parts, test their own materials, and experimentally determine the best ways to get the job done.
This kind of learning doesn’t merely teach industry skills. Johnson’s method equally instills the values of leadership, teamwork, research, and personal accountability, skills that Johnson believes will make Snohomish students more competitive and successful in the workplace. It’s that multi-disciplinary utility that makes Johnson willing to recommend his classes to anyone of any grade. “I don’t think it’s ever too late,” Johnson affirms. “When I was in high school, I only took one metals class, and I pursued it.”
Salvedalena, like his teacher, has only taken one machining class so far, yet he already uses his new skills regularly.
“ I don’t want to have to rely on other people to solve my problems,” says Salvedalena, who just this year has started machining his own parts for vehicle repairs and personally welded up his leaking radiator on a trip through Snoqualmie Pass. “You’re always going to encounter an instance where you need to fix something.”
Though he already uses machining and welding regularly and wants to work in the field for a while, Salvedalena does not aim to make it his career (he aspires to work in law enforcement). Still, the skills he is learning will doubtlessly be useful throughout his life, especially the skills not required by the curriculum. Problem solving and self-reliance will be vital to Salvedalena in law enforcement, and it’s a CTE class that is helping him develop those talents.
As impressive as Snohomish’s CTE program is, it could not have managed without support. The new programs are a product of increases in funding from many sources. The National Science Foundation, Cotterill informs, gave the district a $1 million grant. The state also gave the district a grant to fund development of an aerospace training program.
Perhaps the most important of these grants is the one from the National Science Foundation, one which Johnson is particularly excited about. It will be used to run SnoCAMP, the Snohomish County Advanced Manufacturing Project, which will involve 28 industry and education experts cooperating to develop and test math/science-based CTE curriculums at Snohomish that will later be offered to other schools nationwide.
Ultimately, Johnson’s impact will be far greater than simply being an excellent teacher. He will play a role in the development of CTE programs at a massive level, help supply local industries with well-educated and adaptive workers, and settle many kids into careers they will rely on for much of their life.
But for now, as Johnson works his way through the shop answering questions and helping students with the machines, his mind is on his job.
Walking back through the halls and back up the stairs of D building, the noises fade away, the chatter and footfalls take over, and the day goes on at Snohomish High School. Johnson’s work continues, largely unnoticed and unsung. Still, that is no matter: the impact of his program is undeniable.
