Henrico's Top Teachers – Matt Cross, Short Pump MS

Matt Cross’ passion for teaching has always come from the connection he forms with his students based upon the content he teaches.

“With the classes that I do, the connections that I can make with the students and building those relationships is the more fun and rewarding part,” Cross said. “Especially with the students who take my class all three years of middle school there’s such a familiarity that it can be a more engaging experience.”

Though Cross started at Short Pump Middle School 26 years ago as an English teacher, the project-based nature of the SPMS gifted program is what eventually drew him to switch to that program full-time more than a decade ago. While Cross also enjoys the freedom for developing content that the Gifted Program allows, the program’s true value lies in the practical skills students build from working together, he said.

“Really the content that we do, while fun, kind of takes a backseat to that teaching the students how to think, teaching them how to manage and challenge themselves and kind of rise up to those challenges,” Cross said.

Whether it was through fun projects like building roller coasters for a contest at Kings Dominion or just taking time to get to know his students, one parent who nominated Cross credited his collaborative and encouraging teaching style for the noticeable improvement in her children’s confidence.

Cross acknowledged it was challenging to teach a collaborative and project-based curriculum virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. But his focus on keeping students active with hands-on learning stood out to parents.

“I did not know another teacher at our school that kept the spirit of their class alive during virtual learning the way Matt did,” the parent wrote. “…he found ways to get kids working in groups in breakout on shared documents, so they still had the opportunity to learn how to work together.”

Transitioning back to in-person learning has been almost as difficult as teaching virtually for all. But with innovative methods like a paper folding and doodle note taking unit, Cross was able to get students comfortable learning and collaborating in person again, the parent said.

For Cross, while the progress transitioning back to in-person learning has been slow, he is proud of how far his students have come during the past school year.

“It was baby steps at the beginning, trying to do things that they weren’t feeling the pressure of a grade immediately,” Cross said. “But we’ve been able to build up to the whole class being agreeable and working to solve problems which is very cool.”