Tyrone High School’s newest faculty member, Mr. Matt Elder, came on board as a full time substitute when French and chemistry teacher Mr. Salami left to teach at Bellefonte.  This year he will be supervising the online French classes as well as teaching a section of US Civics.

Elder may be new to the Tyrone faculty, but being a 2006 Tyrone graduate, he is no stranger to Tyrone Area High School.

In his high school days Elder was involved in a number of extracurricular activities including swimming, soccer, jazz band, track, and peer jury.

In fact, Elder and three of his swim team teammates, once held the school record for the 200 Medley Relay.

Mr. Todd Cammarata, who was boys swim team coach at the time, remembers that record well.

“They broke the record at districts by only a tenth of a second or so, and they did it in their last swim together, it was quite a memorable moment,” said Cammarata.

When asked about what it’s like to work at his old school, Elder said “It’s great. There’s a real comfort level here, it’s home. A lot has changed since I left, but a lot has stayed the same.”

Elder’s career goal was not always to be a teacher. In fact, in his senior yearbook he listed his future career as lawyer.

“Actually, if you asked ‘high school me’, he would tell you that I was determined to become anything BUT a teacher” said Elder. “I couldn’t envision spending the rest of my life in school. That changed when I got to college and had the chance to observe and help out in a high school social studies class,” said Elder.

Elder graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2010 with a degree in history and English. He then went onto Pitt Graduate School of Education and received a Masters Degree in Education in 2011.   He then moved to North Carolina to teach for four years, at both the high school and middle school levels.

Elder credits some of his Tyrone teachers with helping him to develop some of his own teaching units.

“I borrowed and used Mr. Cammarata’s political song project, National History Day … just to name a few, in my classes in North Carolina,” said Elder.

Elder’s mother Barbara is a elementary school teacher at Tyrone.

“[My Mom] never pushed me to become a teacher. She let me figure out what I wanted to do and supported whatever my decision was. What she has influenced, however, is how I teach” said Elder.

“She also isn’t afraid to try new strategies and activities with her students. Those are things I really look up to and try to do myself. She’s also a great to go to for advice when I have a situation that I’m not sure how to handle,” said Elder.

While in North Carolina, Elder also had some experience with Mock Trial, something he is getting involved with here at Tyrone.

“I am really excited to have some help this season,” said Cammarata, who is the Mock Trial Team adviser.  “Mr. Elder’s experience with mock trial is going to make us a much better team.”

Outside of school, Elder likes to spend time with his wife and his dog Keisel, named after former Pittsburgh Steeler defensive end Brett Keisel.