Matt Johnson Gets Married
Written by Karl Houtman, Former Student on Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Matt Johnson, a teacher at Snohomish High School, got married to his fiancé this past Friday, December 5, 2014.
Johnson and his bride, Jenny Pinnell, were married this past weekend at the Rose Hill Community Center in Mukilteo.
“The reason why we’re getting married there is because our first date was in Mukilteo, down at the Diamond Knot. We went and got some pizza together, and our date ended at the lighthouse.”
They first met here at SHS when Johnson began teaching. Everett Community College, at the time, held night classes at the school, and Pinnell took a machining class for Boeing, her employer. Johnson taught the class, and they struck up a friendship after a few weeks. “I spent 14 hours a day here, and met her that way,” Johnson said.
Since then, Pinnell has spent more time here at SHS, volunteering her time in the Robotics Club.
Johnson and Pinnell had been engaged for eighteen months, and have become really close. “We make each other laugh every day without trying," said Johnson.
Johnson and Pinnell got engaged in Costa Rica, where they were on a trip with almost forty students for the company Education First, which specializes in educational travel. Pinnell took a panoramic picture of the sunset towards the end of the trip, and at the end of the picture was none other than Johnson, holding the engagement ring in his hand.
“She was completely speechless; she could barely get the words 'okay' out,” Johnson said.
The wedding was planned entirely by Johnson and Pinnell, with Linsey Haywood as the day-of coordinator.
“My job, on the day of the wedding, is to make sure that everything that is supposed to happen actually happens,” Haywood said.
“[Haywood] kind of knew about [the wedding] before it was officially announced,” Johnson said.
Tim Fraser-Bumatay was also present at the wedding, along with his family. According to Johnson, Bumatay “has been a really good influence for us in how we show our appreciation.”
Tim Kostersitz, a junior at SHS, helped repair a typewriter from the 1920’s for Johnson’s wedding, which was present so that guests may type on it. There was also a card on the typewriter that read, “Sorry, no autocorrect.”
From student and teacher, to inseparable friends, to bride and groom, Johnson and Pinnell have finally become a couple that will stay together for many years and even decades to come.
