Career change leads to teaching at IMS

Kim Matney was ready for something new.

She’d made a name for herself in hospitality management, opening new hotels, overseeing catering jobs, “lots of stuff like that.”

She put her career on the backburner once motherhood beckoned.

She eventually got another job working at a YMCA in Osawatomie, when a friend suggested she take up teaching.

The thought was enticing. Her kids were still of school age, so they’d be nearby.

“And I’d get summers off,” she laughed. “Little did I know all that came into it.”

So after more than 15 years in the professional world, Kim Matney was headed back to school.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in education at Ottawa University, then worked for two years as a Title I instructor for elementary schools in Osawatomie.

Still, she yearned for more.

That led Matney to Iola Middle School, where she is the school’s new computer applications instructor.

Matney is charged in honing computer skills for seventh- and eighth-graders on a number of Microsoft programs, such as Office, Word, Excel, Publisher and PowerPoint.

“Adding to that, I want them to learn life skills as well, things they can take with them outside the classroom,” she said.

For example, one class project this year will involve the students learning what to consider when buying a car.

“When you want to purchase a vehicle, how do you compare apples to apples?” She asked, “Why you might favor this one versus that one, and what it’s going to cost you.”

Iola’s appeal was evident from the start.

Matney, who still lives in Osawatomie, notes the two communities have similar small-town atmospheres.

“I feel like I fit in pretty well here,” she said. “When I met (Principal) Brad Crusinbery, we really seemed to connect. I can’t say enough about how nice my new colleagues have been.”

MATNEY, who recently celebrated her 48th birthday, also impresses upon her students the importance of becoming comfortable with technology.

“When I was in middle school, we had typewriters,” she laughed. “If I made a mistake, I had to start over, or take out a cartridge that would erase it.”