Westerville has the best teachers – and they have the awards to prove it. In September, Westerville South High School teacher Matthew Wolfe was named 2023 Stephen Schwartz Musical Theatre Teacher of the Year by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.
This national award recognizes exceptional middle and high school theater teachers, and anyone who knows Wolfe can agree he fits the playbill.
Wolfe is in his sixth year as a Westerville City Schools’ high school theater teacher and teaches the International Baccalaureate theater class at South.
He runs inclusive programs including the annual Black Voices Project and a summer enrichment program for middle and high school students. He has been the director of Troupe 513 at South for 10 years.
Bitten by the Theater Bug
Wolfe knew from a young age that he wanted to be a teacher, playing school with his grandpa and stuffed animals and taking charge wherever he could. He always wanted to be a positive figure in other kids’ lives.
In college, Wolfe studied English and theater at Otterbein University and laid plans to start his career as an English teacher before getting certified to teach theater.
“I (chose English) because it was my toughest class in high school,” Wolfe says. “I would find myself just shutting down in English, … so when I had to pick a discipline, … I just (knew) I could help the other kids like me.”
Wolfe returned to Ohio after student teaching in New York and continued his education at The Ohio State University, where he earned his master’s degree in Educational Policy and Leadership before going to work at several different schools around central Ohio.
Wolfe took a step back from teaching after being diagnosed with stage four melanoma in 2012, but he couldn’t be kept out of the classroom for long. He returned to take a position as a recruiter and adjunct faculty member for the theater program at Otterbein in 2013, and answered the call when Westerville City Schools rang.
“Two of the Westerville high schools, Central and South, needed a new theater director, and they called Otterbein. I picked up the phone, and they were like, ‘Do you have any alumni (who would be interested)? And I was like, ‘Well, I know of one,’” Wolfe says. “Ultimately, I landed at Westerville South. As soon as I walked in that school, I just knew. I knew I belonged there.”
Teaching Trifecta
After five years at Westerville South, Wolfe became the theater teacher at all three high schools.
Over the years, Wolfe has tailored his teaching style to fit his students and helps them learn to express themselves through their work.
He has been recognized for his inclusivity and advocacy for theater through numerous accolades, including an honorable mention for the 2022 Excellence in Theatre Education Award presented by the Tony Awards and Carnegie Mellon University, as well as the Westerville Great Educator and Educator of the Year.
Wolfe says he is always learning from his students and will continue fighting for more theater diversity.
“Being able to support and be with my students through the social injustice and the unrest and the politics of today, just knowing that they could express themselves, talk about it and that I was in a place where I could ask the people it was affecting the most, … I feel like I’ve gone through a major life change in the past five years as a result of that,” Wolfe says.
Wolfe strives to encourage and nourish students’ enthusiasm for theater and instill in them a lifelong love for theater while leaving them with a legacy of love.
“I tell them I love them, and I try to normalize that,” Wolfe says. “In my time as a teacher, as the (Educational Theatre Association’s) Ohio chapter director, I hope at the end of the day that I can spark some of that legacy in the state, in my kids, so that they’ll fight for it … (and) that they’ll stand tall and remind everyone how important it is.”
Jane Dimel is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
