Many new staff members have joined us this semester. Amongst one of which is Matthew Naber, the school’s new business technology teacher. Naber not only teaches but also coaches Grand Haven’s baseball team as well as football. Turning his passion for sports and education into teaching young minds.
Favorite artist?
My favorite artist right now is Luke Combs. I enjoy country music. Fast Car is probably one of my favorite songs.
What is your average coffee intake?
Zero I’m not a coffee drinker so I have never had coffee.
What’s your pet peeve in the classroom?
My biggest pet peeve in the classroom is laziness when kids don’t try.
What are your favorite and least favorite trends?
I think my least favorite trend is the whole AI thing. My favorite trend is probably paying it forward. You know there’s a lot of times where they have you going through the Starbucks line or going through the McDonalds line and you pay for the person in front of you. I think that’s kinda cool.
What are you doing when you are out of school?
I am hanging out with my family, I have four kids with my wife so a lot of family stuff drives the kids around to sporting events I coach as well. I coached football and baseball so that keeps me busy. I love being outside and I also own a property management business that I do so I have four or five houses that I look after things that need any maintenance things that need to be done
on the inside or outside.
How long have you been teaching?
This would be my 14th year, my previous 13 years have been at West Ottawa Public Schools. I was at the middle school for 2 years and the high school for 11 years.
Where did you go to High School and college?
Hudsonville, I went to GRCC for two years and then I went to Grand Valley for three years to finish my undergrad and then I also went to Grand Valley and got my master’s degree in Educational leadership.
Have you found something more difficult than you expected transitioning to GHAPS?
No, honestly everybody has been super welcoming and super supportive you know, any questions that there’s always somebody that’s willing and able to answer it. So it’s been a really great transition.
Have you felt accepted at GHAPS?
Yeah absolutely the students have been awesome and like I the faculty and staff have been great too I really enjoy my classes. The students are very respectful, and hardworking, and like I said the staff is really supportive and you know you are willing to help with anything that I need.
Did you always want to be a teacher?
Initially, I wanted to go into law enforcement and then I got into coaching after I suffered an elbow injury playing baseball. So my college baseball career ended and I got into coaching and then I kind of talked to some of the coaches and they said if you’re going to be a coach it’s ideal to be a teacher because the schedules line up a little better so I would say I kind of got pushed into teaching because I enjoy coaching and sports and stuff like that.
What makes your classroom unique?
Probably the energy all the kids bring with all the hard work and their respectfulness.
If you could change one thing about your curriculum, what would it be and why?
I would probably try to push out all the stuff that’s outdated, and try to get more current stuff. I really think the world has changed a lot over the last 10 or 15 years with how information is presented to them. So I would try to get rid of some of the dated material and try to get more current
events-type stuff.
What does your planning hour typically look like?
My planning hour normally is trying to get ready for the next day. I have fifth-hour planning normally I try to prepare for the next day’s classes by making sure the lessons are ready but I also find time to eat and go to the bathroom and I like to try to get some steps since I normally I try to go for like a 10 or 15-minute walk just to kind of move around the building or maybe outside and get some fresh air.