Some may say he is a bit of a goofball, but you would never guess by his professional attitude and poise. This week, we got the chance to sit down with Mr. Matilla to get to know our vice principal just a bit more.

Harriton Banner: What responsibilities are included in your job?

Matilla: In my job, I oversee the ninth grade students predominantly. That is, schedules, IEP meetings, general issues that they may be having, unfortunately some discipline along the way as well. I also am now in charge with trying to build the schedule for students next year. And I also deal with the eighth to ninth grade transitions so for ninth grade students that are coming up I arrange for the visits, make sure that the move up day is set up.

HB: Have you worked anywhere else besides Harriton?

Matilla: Yeah, I’ve worked at a whole bunch of different places as a teacher. But before I came into my administrative career, before I came to Harriton I was at Avon Grove High School, which is in South East Chester County. I think that I was only there for about 6-8 months before the opportunity at Harriton came up and there was no way in heck I would pass that up to come to this place. And before I was at Avon Grove I was a director at Berks County at a school district called Oley Valley School District for about 2 ½ to 3 years. Harriton is definitely a lot closer to Philadelphia than when I have to go to some more rural districts. 

HB: What do you think you add to Harriton? 

Matilla: I think that I am a pretty good listener. I think that’s really important when you’re dealing with people because you have to listen first and then get their perspective on things.  I really hear people out before making any decisions because one of the biggest things about being an administrator is all the many decisions you make every day. I think that I bring perspective and informed decision making, but I think that I also bring an outgoing personality who likes to have fun, who likes to see students and teachers succeed, and above all else, I make decisions that will hopefully make Harriton a better place. 

HB: How are you working to improve Harriton? 

Matilla: Well I think with me taking the schedules as one of my responsibilities that we touched on earlier has given me again, I go back to perspective, it gives me a good perspective for all of the programs that we run. I want to be thoughtful about making sure that students get as many of their courses as they possibly can into their schedule. But as far as improving Harrition, I think I bring a positive disposition and try to bring just a level head to things and try to remember everyone is human; a teacher, a student, an administrator, a parent, and we are sometimes blinded by emotions and sometimes we are going to trip up, especially students. And I try to recognize that and not hold that against anybody and use those types of things when people do stumble as an opportunity for learning so that it doesn’t happen again.

HB: What is your favorite thing about Harriton?

Matilla: I think that the number one thing that I like about Harrition in any capacity is that you’re surrounded by excellence. You’re surrounded by excellent students. You’re surrounded by excellent teachers, support staff, parents, community, resources. I mean, it just exudes excellence in everything we do. But I think that there is a really healthy, family feel to Harriton. Even though we’re bigger than some of the teachers and staff here may remember, it still has a family feel compared to some schools who may have less of that feel. Those are the things I think I really enjoy about Harriton.

But my favorite thing about Harriton? Hmmmm… Well I think an undersold gem is our green-house. Mr. Ferraro and his landscape horticulture class has given me the vegetables for my garden the past three years, some years better than others from me cultivating them, but that’s one thing that I think is pretty cool. I’ve had tomatoes, peppers, all kinds of things coming out of there so I think that it is kind of a dark horse that no one really knows about here. 

HB: What was your high school experience like? 

Matilla: My high school experience? I think it was a good one. I was kind of a late bloomer, and soccer was the big deal for me and I at least considered myself, not anymore, to be a decent athlete. I gave up with basketball and track and a bunch of other things to focus on soccer and that pretty much, well that along with my friends, dominated my life. I think that I was a good student and I think being so busy and involved with sports and activities really helped me be a better student because I really had to manage my time. So high school was a great time. Some of my high school friends still remain my best friends. It’s waning into the distance pretty quickly from when I was in high school, but I remember fondly, and I have made good relationships, and I remember some of my teachers, especially from that time, and it has definitely made an imprint on where I am now. 

HB: How do you think that your friends would describe you?

Matilla: I think that my friends would describe me as kind of a goof ball frankly. I don’t really know how much of that I want to put out to the staff and students, but I like to have fun, I can quote movies from now until I am 65 years old, I’m a huge movie buff, and I think that my friends would definitely say that I am a caring individual too. You know if one of my friends had a flat tire, I would probably be one of the first in line to go help him out. And I think that I would also say that I am pretty dependable. It doesn’t have to be a flat tire, I’ll take some time out to make sure that you support your friends as well as your family. 

HB: What do you like to do in your free time?

Matilla: I don’t have much free time. So right now I’m in the midsts of trying to wrap up my doctoral program to get my doctorate. I’m actually taking my comprehension exam next week so that dominates my time with classes and my work here. But when I do get spare time, I try the best that I can to spend it with my family. I have a six year old son and a three year old daughter, so if that means getting home while the daylight is still longer in the afternoon and just playing outside, playing basketball in the driveway or if that means going for a bike ride, or if it means sitting down and watching a half an hour Scooby-Doo with the kids, I’ll do that. So if I get free time I try to spend it definitely with family and as my time hopefully opens up now if I get through these doctoral classes, I will make some more time for friends too, but that’s kind of me in a nutshell. And as well as I guess, during football season, watching the Eagles, and anything Philadelphia sports after I spend time with my family. 

HB: What is a fun, interesting fact about yourself?

Matilla: A fun interesting fact about me.. Well alright. So I was a semi-professional soccer player. There used to be three divisions of soccer in the United States and I was a third division soccer player here for a couple years and now kind of a weird one.. I am an avid online shopper. You’ve got Groupon, Amazon Local, you’ve got your Eversave, but I am like a bargain hunter online. I find promo code deals, I find free shipping, and I really pride myself in being able to find a good deal. I know it’s a little quirky, but I think of myself as an expert online shopper. 

Mr. Matilla is certainly fit for the taxing job of handling the freshmen.  Eager to answer any questions, (which certainly works in our favor), and always hunting for an online steal, it is no wonder that Mr. Matilla is so successful in his work.