It wasn’t a surprise that Matt Hoffman decided to go into education. Hoffman, the new vice principal at Iola High School, comes from a long family line of educators.
“I grew up in a teaching environment and saw the benefits of it,” Hoffman said.
His father is a professor and the chairman of the physical education department at McPherson College and his mother is an elementary teacher in McPherson. His brother teaches fifth grade and his grandfather was previously the president at McPherson College.
Hoffman comes to Iola from Jayhawk-Linn in Mound City. He taught at Jayhawk Linn for five years. While he was there he taught physical education and coached boys basketball.
He earned his bachelor’s degree from McPherson College and graduated from Emporia State University in May with his master’s degree.
An administrator, Danny Brown, at Jayhawk Linn encouraged Hoffman to get his master’s degree in administration.
“I thought I would do it, just not this soon,” Hoffman said. “I’m very fortunate to be here.”
Hoffman and his wife, Abby, have yet to move to Iola. Abby is still teaching at Jayhawk-Linn and he commutes every day from Mound City.
“We would love to be in town, but it wasn’t possible this year,” he said.
Hoffman has goals in mind for the 2013-14 school year.
“I want to get familiar with the program that’s in place,” he said. “I want to create an environment that is safe and educational.”
Hoffman’s morning routine is to greet students on their way to classes. In between classes can also be a good time to quickly touch base with students, he said.
He has an open-door policy for students.
“I encourage people to come talk to me,” Hoffman said.
