APRIL 5, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A3
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ABOVE AND BEYOND: WMS Mentor honored
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Matt Hurst has always
gone beyond the call of duty
to help the teachers and stu-
dents with whom he works.
And back in February, it was
clear that his dedication didn’t
go unnoticed.
Hurst, who is an instruc-
tional mentor at Whiteaker
Middle School, was honored
with the 2019 Outstanding
Technology Educator of the
Year award, which was giv-
en by the Northwest Coun-
cil for Computer Education
(NCCE).
“It was a total surprise. I
had no idea,” Hurst said. “It
was quite an honor to be rec-
ognized. I just feel blessed.”
Hurst was honored for be-
ing a strong peer leader and
instructional mentor while
attending the Northwest’s
largest educational technolo-
gy conference in Seattle.
“It’s been a pleasure to
work with him because he
inspires others,” Whiteaker
principal Julia DeWitt said.
“All of our teachers want to
professionally grow with him
because he is so excited about
learning.
As a highly experienced
educator, Hurst uses his skills
and expertise to be a mentor
and coach to other teachers
at Whiteaker — often times
KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings
Whiteaker Middle School mentor Matt Hurst shows off his
award from the Northwest Council for Computer Education.
showing teachers how to
implement technology into
their instruction.
“I am solely here to sup-
port teachers and the goals
that they have,” Hurst said.
After receiving his master’s
in teaching at Western Ore-
gon University, Hurst taught
English Learning Develop-
ment for fi ve years in South-
ern California before moving
to Keizer in 2007 to teach
ELD at Claggett Creek Mid-
dle School.
But with only experience
teaching at the high school
level, working at a middle
school was a bit of an adjust-
ment for Hurst.
“I had a hard time transi-
tioning from high school to
middle school, especially in
teaching students with low
language levels and a lot of
other challenges compared
to what I was used to in high
school.”
However, after meeting
with DeWitt — who was an
instructional coach at Clag-
gett Creek at the time —
Hurst was able to come with
a more effective way to teach
his class by breaking them up
into three separate stations.
“After I implemented that,
the kids were much more en-
gaged because it was like hav-
ing three different classrooms
in one,” Hurst said.
Hurst wanted to expand
on that idea with the use of
computers, which is how he
fi rst got hooked on introduc-
ing updated technology to his
students.
During
the
2009-10
school year, Hurst got mul-
tiple iPod touches and iPads
for his classroom. The iPod
touches were used as clickers
that kids to respond to ques-
tions with, while the iPads
were used as tools to help
kids respond to questions by
speaking into them.
When Hurst moved to
teach at Houck Middle
School in 2013, he continued
to build on what had been
working for him at Claggett
Creek.
“I felt like I was ready to
take the next step of using
technology in the classroom,”
Hurst said.
Along with teaching a
language development class,
Hurst also taught an iPad
elective, where he instruct-
ed kids on video produc-
tion, coding, photography,
editing with apps, computer
programming and computer
science.
“It was a big challenge be-
cause I had to come up with
my own curriculum essen-
tially,” Hurst said. “But it was
fun to let kids explore differ-
ent areas of technology.”
“I wanted to give kids
career explorations through
technology.”
In 2015, when Whiteaker
had an instructional coach
position available, DeWitt
knew who the right person
for the job would be.
“You want someone who
is a learner fi rst, but also
someone that the staff real-
ly trusts as they implement
new strategies,” DeWitt said.
“Matt totally fi t the bill.”
Four years ago, Whiteaker
was a technology poor school
that had outdated comput-
ers and didn’t have access to
things like iPads or Chrome-
books.
But after just a year at the
school, Hurst was vital to
making sure that changed.
Thanks to district help and
dedication of school funds,
Whiteaker has purchased new
sets of Chromebooks and iP-
ads in each of the last three
years that can be checked out
to be used in the classroom or
the library.
The move has also very
cost affective as the school has
been able to spend signifi -
cantly less money on com-
puter repair, as well as their
print budget.
During the technological
transition, Hurst did all kinds
of trainings for teachers on
how they could implement
the new technology in their
classrooms.
Hurst even does similar
trainings all across the district
and state.
“One of the reasons I was
hired in this position was
because of the technology
that has been changing in
schools,” Hurst said. “That
idea was foreign to a lot of
teachers.”
Last summer, Hurst even
hosted a technology camp for
eighth graders that featured
circuitry and electronics, plus
engineering and product de-
sign.
“There’s a lot of really in-
novative and fun ways for kids
to access learning opportuni-
ties through technology. It’s
the wave of the future. Kids
are using a lot more of it in
daily life.”
“It’s nice to give them a
technical skill that they can
fall back on.”
Students: Get ready to strut
your stuff on KeizerFEST stage
All sixth-12th grade Salem-Keizer area stu-
dents can submit music videos showing off
their own musical talent to have a chance at
competing for cash prizes at the Teen Music
Showcase on Sunday, May 19.
Videos must be submitted by Wednesday,
May 1 to talent@keizerchamber.com. Judg-
es will then pre-select contestants from video
submissions to compete at KeizerFEST.
All submissions must include the students
name, phone number, email, school, grade, and
parent and teacher contact information.
If you have any questions, visit keizercham-
ber.com or call (503)393-9111.