Social studies teacher with passion for building takes over Crossler wood shop

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When he got out of the U.S. Navy in 1994, Joe Matot figured he’d spend his life building houses.

He had a carpentry background and soon got a job in construction, but found himself reconsidering while walking a beam on a home he was building east of Salem.

“It was freezing, you know, and just, and I thought, ‘Man, there’s got to be something warmer out there,’” he said. He decided to go back to school and get a teaching license at Western Oregon University.

After 25 years teaching English and social studies at Crossler Middle School, Matot, 55, returned to his roots, taking over the school’s wood shop.

He’s now in his first year teaching industrial technology, showing middle school students how to safely use band saws and spindle sanders. 

“If I’m not working on my motorcycles, I’m building something,” he said. “I thought, all right, you know, I’ll just introduce the kids to it and see. And so far, it’s been amazing,” he said.

Matot was a poor student in high school by his own admission, and said he likely wouldn’t have graduated if it weren’t for PE and art classes. He failed his English class as a senior, a graduation requirement, and earned a diploma after his teacher guided him through the process of making up a credit.

“I thought, ‘Man, if I had a chance to be a teacher, you know, I’d do something like that,’” he said.

Though the subjects are different, he said shop and social studies are both about knowing where kids are and guiding them to understanding through activities.

”Some kids come to school and know about using a chop saw, because they use it at home. And other kids have never even picked up a hammer before,” he said. “That goes with every classroom.”

He was inspired to take on the new job after Crossler’s previous shop teacher, Rob Bell, retired three years ago. The school tried to make do with long-term substitutes, he said, but wasn’t able to find somebody to keep running the program.

Only six of the Salem-Keizer School District’s 11 middle schools offer a shop or woodworking program now, according to school websites.

“As people retire, there’s nobody to take over, so they just end up shutting down,” he said.

Matot spent last summer preparing for the transition, converting the room that had been used as a social studies classroom back into a functioning wood shop — a project he estimated took about 300 hours.

Managers at local Home Depot and Lowe’s stores helped by donating equipment or offering discounts, and Matot got tables from the high school construction teacher at the district’s Career Technical Education Center. A $1,000 grant in December from the Maps Community Foundation allowed him to get air compressors so students can use nail guns.

Now, his students can prepare for their projects on two rows of narrow tables, with space for Matot to walk in between and check their work. 

Many of the items in the shop he fashioned himself, like small wooden “PPE trees” — towers where students hang earmuffs and safety glasses when they’re not working on equipment.

On a recent Monday, sixth graders in Matot’s introductory class practiced marking lines on a small block of cedar, then sanding them down using a spindle sander.

Clad in a canvas apron with a Seahawks logo sewn on, he walked between groups, helping students eyeball measurements and feed wood into the sander.

Matot looks for projects that will allow students to practice specific tools. So far, his classes have crafted wooden boxes, rustic shelves and tea light holders. Examples sit on shelves outside his classroom.

He looks for inspiration as he’s out and about.

“I’m always thinking, ‘Oh, could my kids build this,’” he said.

Some of his students have participated in a challenge through Team Oregon Build, a nonprofit, to provide temporary housing for wildfire survivors. While his students aren’t ready to build houses yet, they’ve made benches and planter boxes to go along with homes crafted by high school students.

“That’s just been a really cool thing where the kids see that whatever the skill they’re picking up in class, they’re able to apply and pass that on to somebody else,” he said.

Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.

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