by Kori Washington

Chemistry and physics teacher Matthew Bramer made a major life change when he left the tech world to become a teacher at Jeff High.

“My previous work was IT work, and it was fun, but it didn’t feel like it had a big impact,” said Bramer, who worked in technology at Mercer Transportation. 

After reflecting on his time in the tech industry, Bramer realized that while he enjoyed his work in IT, he didn’t feel like he had a deeper purpose. This made him want to change his career to something where he could positively impact others’ lives and make them feel like they have a purpose, too. 

“I wanted to be a teacher so that I could impact the lives of the students,” said Bramer.

Although Bramer thought he would only impact the lives of students in class, he has also impacted them outside of the classroom as well.

“I like how he’s very patient with the students and also listens to my drama,” said freshman Ariana Smith.  

“Patient” and “kindness” are some of the many words that students and staff would use to describe him.

“He’s kind. He definitely is one of the kindest people I’ve met. He doesn’t get stressed out by the situations that every day of teaching can give you. He’s able to keep it cool,” said science teacher James Huffman, who has been teaching for 10 years. 

“He’s so enthusiastic and happy all the time. Oh, my gosh. Always has a smile so kind. It’s a really good guy,” said science teacher Hope Rector, who has been teaching for 19 years. 

While Bramer is known for his kindness and patience, his first year of teaching has also come with challenges and rewarding moments.

“Classroom management has been pretty hard. And that’s just managing all of the personalities,” said Bramer. 

But despite having a lot of personalities in one classroom, Bramer enjoys getting to know all the students and also getting to see them understand what he’s teaching. 

“I think seeing the students get it and understand the curriculum was really nice, and it was also really nice to have a lot of students come up to my desk and hang.”

These rewarding moments are one of the many positives that keep Bramer motivated to keep teaching. But one of the most important aspects that has kept him moving forward is the help from his fellow staff members.

“Ms. Rector and Mr. Huffman have been very helpful,” said Bramer. 

Huffman and Ms. Rector’s advice have played a role in Bramer’s growth as a teacher since the start of the year.

“I think when you walk in, like as a teacher, and you have like over 30 kids staring at you, it’s overwhelming for sure. But I’ve seen him grow in his confidence,” said Rector. 

“He’s gone from being nervous to and kind of using me and Miss Rector and other teachers that are veteran teachers as helpers; he’s almost doing most of it on his own. He’s asking us for some, like help every once in a while, but he has gotten to the point where he’s creating things and sending them to us,” said Huffman.

After experiencing the challenges of his first year and growing with the help of his mentors Bramer has learned valuable lessons he would like to share with otherothe first year teachers:

“I set aside time for grading, cause coming in, I was like, ‘yeah, I’m gonna grade.’ And then I actually have to grade. And it’s like, ‘oh my gosh.”