This 2020-2021 school year, Rancho Cucamonga High School welcomes Mr. Mathew Holton as a new physical education teacher.

Mr. Holton is a Rancho Cucamonga High School grad. Mr. Holton currently teaches sophomore year physical education. This is Mr. Holton’s first year teaching. Before entering the teaching profession, Holton said he was a fireman for almost a year with Culver City.

Mr. Holton said, “I was only a fireman until I found my land.” Mr. Holton began substituting around the district, which brought him into coaching.

Mr. Holton graduated from Loyola Marymount University and is currently working towards his master’s and teaching credentials through an online program.

Mr. Holton said, “the thing I look forward to the most is hopefully getting out of this whole distance learning environment and just getting back to that Rancho spirit and culture and be able to feel that on a day to day basis.”

One thing that Mr. Holton can bring to Rancho is his enthusiasm and passion for health and fitness. Mr. Holton said, “I feel like you can get kids to buy in best when the teacher is passionate about what they are instructing. Overall, I feel like I bring that kind of enthusiasm and passion in my classroom.”

One thing Mr. Holton wants the school to know about him is that he admires when people have the willingness to self-reflect on their own performance.

Mr. Holton said, “at Osos last spring, I was a long-term substitute for a couple of months. One thing I did at the end was pass out a teacher evaluation even though it was not mandatory. It asked them what they like and disliked about the class and what can be improved.”

For Mr. Holton, the best thing about being a teacher is the good days. He said, “with the fire service, it is a little different because you can get all kinds of calls, and some of them are more unfortunate than others. There is a lot of drama in the fire department, and the one thing I noticed about teaching is that you have control over the day as the teacher.” He added, “The good days are the ones where I get to engage with the students, and I feel that they want to be here because of my instruction, the school, and all the external factors that lead toward a good day.”

Mr. Holton said, “I really enjoy that face to face contact with my students, being able to connect with them more on an emotional level where we can talk about their days and how they feel.”

The wisdom Mr. Holton would like to share with the students here at Rancho is that if you set yourself up for success in high school, you are going to be good to go. He said, “everything gets better after this, so do not think this is the peak. It is a good time, but after high school, it just gets that much better.”

Mr. Holton said, “Rancho is very different. I substituted at a lot of different campuses throughout the districts, and there is no place like Rancho as far as the spirit and culture. It is very unique.”