DANVILLE – Matt Moore of Danville Local Schools has earned the 2020 Ohio State Grange Teacher of the Year award for his community service.
“I try to help out where I can and help those people that may not be able to do their work,” Moore said. “There’s plenty of chances to volunteer and help out.”
Moore teaches intervention specialty, is the athletic director for Danville Local Schools and coaches high school basketball for the school district.
His time outside of school hours helping the community was a factor in winning the award. Margaret Ruhl of Wayne Grange, who nominated Moore for the award, said that Moore serves as an umpire for baseball games and a referee for football games for 9-year-olds, Little League and some high school games.
Moore also mows the lawns of several of his senior neighbors.
“I also help out at our church,” he said. “We pass out meals every Wednesday, and we pass out anywhere from 200 meals to 400 meals.” The service turned into a drive-thru operation with the pandemic, and he helps carry the meals out to cars.
Moore attends Fredericktown United Methodist Church, where he is an usher.
Ruhl said that Moore serves on the Wayne Grange dartball team and sits on the executive committee, which helps with decisions on the Grange property. He is also a former State Grange Prince, which now is called ambassador.
“I’ve been a part of the Grange for nearly all my life,” Moore said. “My parents and my grandparents were involved in the Grange.”
He is married to Jess and has two children: Meredith, age 4, and Beckett, who is two. A third child is due in June.
The past school year has been difficult for students and teachers in Danville. Whether by phone calls, email or through the school system’s educational platform, Moore said that it is a big change for himself and other teachers. Additionally, as the athletic director, he had another set of challenges to overcome.
Organization and communication with other teachers and the building principal have been huge factors in getting through the school year.
“For some of our students at Danville, just having an internet connection is a huge factor,” he said. And it’s not just the students who have issues: teachers also lack internet access because it just isn’t available.
Moore knows that each student learns differently, and sometimes it can be difficult to learn from a computer — to stay focused and to sit down and do the work.
“I know when I was a kid, that would be the last thing that I wanted to do was sit down on a nice day and do schoolwork when I could be outside,” he said.
On March 15, Danville started rotating classes again, which was just like a regular schedule for the students.
“That piece has been nice to try to get a little bit of normalcy back into the school year, even though we just started the fourth quarter,” Moore said.
