Debra Klevens

Latin teacher Matthew Crutchfield teaches his first period Latin II class. “‘Work hard, have fun,’ is my advice for most of life. Try to do your best, and if you have questions, ask early, ask often,” Crutchfield said.

During an introductory meeting with Principal Dan Gutchewsky, new teacher Matthew Crutchfield shared tales of his adventurous travels. He recounted one nerve-wracking experience from college when he and his friends found themselves lost in the dense, shadowy expanse of Germany’s Black Forest as night began to fall.

“My friends and I were backpacking in Europe during college. We hiked and got lost in the Black Forest [mountain range]. It started getting dark, it was a little scary, and we didn’t know what we were going to do,” Crutchfield said. “I speak some German, but there’s a different dialect. I would ask, ‘how do we go to the road?’ And they [would] answer me, but I don’t speak that dialect in German, and they don’t speak English.”

Crutchfield and his friends eventually reached a bus stop, returning to their hotel at midnight. Although his knowledge of German could not save him as a college student, Crutchfield’s fascination with another language, Latin, and its mechanics, history and impact on modern languages would determine much of his years in college, later obtaining a PhD, and guide him toward a lifelong career of sharing his curiosity with students.

Crutchfield initially took Latin in high school because his sister recommended it. However, he later received inspiration from a series of impactful teachers, beginning with his high school Latin teacher and ending with a series of professors in college.

“I bounced around English and history [college courses] but just kept taking Latin classes. Those are my favorite classes,” Crutchfield said. “I loved the history of it. I loved the culture—the ancient Romans and the Greeks—and the grammar, such as the kinds of verbs. It all fit together.”

After completing his PhD studies at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Crutchfield taught part-time at Lindbergh High School.

“They had a teacher who taught history mostly, and then taught some Latin as a side, so they had very little Latin knowledge,” Crutchfield said. “Rebuilding [students’] knowledge to where they should be was a struggle, [along with] getting students on the same page.”

Crutchfield later started teaching at Chaminade, an all-boys private Catholic school with sixth—to 12th grade students. Most of his students at Chaminade were in seventh grade, primarily to fulfill language credit early. There, Crutchfield grew accustomed to teaching middle school and high school students.

“That was an eye-opening experience to teach seventh grade Latin. It was a challenge to teach seventh-grade boys Latin all day, every day, but [the experience] was teaching me [more],” Crutchfield said. “I had to adapt from the college level to the seventh grade level, and that was really helpful to me.”

Crutchfield’s love of the Latin language and the Classics drives his teaching. Not only does he instruct and reinforce the concepts of the language, but he also demonstrates its real world application despite Latin’s reputation as a “dead language.”

“My passion for it, the knowledge you get with it, how it makes your life rich,” Crutchfield said. “You have to share that to inspire people to look at their interests and how they connect to what I teach.”

The prestige of the school and its teachers and the rarity of Latin classes in public schools attracted Crutchfield to move to Clayton. After the first few weeks teaching, Crutchfield continues to adapt to the school’s learning environment.

“It’s a very different culture here,” Crutchfield said. “I love the freedom that we are given, both to teachers and to students, to open campus and be able to come and go as you need.”

Crutchfield enjoys the flexibility granted to teachers in their approach to instructing, using it to suit his teaching style effectively.

“I couldn’t sit and teach for a long time because [students] would lose interest, so [I] try to keep the class moving through different activities, different methods of pushing something,” Crutchfield said. “I appreciate the trust and the respect we are given back and forth from students to teachers.”

Junior Jack Maguire had Crutchfield as a teacher when he attended Chaminade.

To Maguire, Crutchfield’s style of teaching fits perfectly to what students need because of his relatability.

“He would crack jokes. Another good thing about him is he’s in tune with the students,” Maguire said. “He was just a very down to earth teacher. He’s not the type of teacher to go, ‘that doesn’t matter,’ in response to [a student] having a hard time with school. He’s going to understand.”

Maguire is excited at the prospect of having an old teacher come with him from Chaminade.

“He’s a good example of what a teacher should be, in my opinion,” Maguire said. “It’s pretty funny that I left and then thought I wasn’t gonna see anyone from [Chaminade] again, and lo and behold, a teacher joined.”

Senior Lucas Boeyink shares the same sentiment about Crutchfield, even after the few weeks he had him as a teacher.

“He seems to enjoy Latin instead of just being a class he’s teaching. There’s nothing that makes a class better than a teacher who loves what they teach,” Boeyink said. He’s a fun person and has a good sense of humor.”

Boeyink enjoyed Crutchfield’s hands-on approach that relied on a variety of methods for teaching.

“[He uses] a lot of combinations of different stuff that makes the class more engaging than just a single lecture over one thing,” Boeyink said. “If I was a freshman, I don’t think I could have told you that he was a new teacher. He’s very clear when it comes to teaching, and it’s very professional.”