Maria T. Matlack is renowned as an educational administrator with more than 35 years of service to her field. Since childhood, she knew she wanted to be a teacher, and positively remembers her time peer-tutoring other students. She subsequently pursued an education at La Salle University in Philadelphia, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1982. Ms. Matlack concluded her studies with a Master of Education at the College of New Jersey in Ewing Township in 1988.
From 1982 to 1993, Ms. Matlack worked as a resource program teacher at F.L. Walther School in Lumberton, NJ. She served at Lumberton Middle School as a resource program teacher from 1993 to 2004, at which point she refocused her career toward curriculum design and literacy support. She excelled as a reading specialist at Ashbrook Elementary School and Bobby’s Run School in Lumberton between 2004 and 2010. Since 2010, Ms. Matlack has found success as a supervisor of curriculum and instruction for the Lumberton Township School District.
Ms. Matlack is licensed as an instructional supervisor, elementary educator, special education teacher and a reading specialist in the State of New Jersey. A noted presenter in her field, she has contributed her knowledge to a published article featured in the periodical Educational Viewpoints and a chapter for a textbook entitled “Methods of Teaching: Applying Cognitive Science to Promote Student Learning.” Ms. Matlack further authored “Using My Louisiana Sky in the Classroom.”
Since 2008, Ms. Matlack has been active as a consultant for the University of Phoenix, where she was an online instructor from 2003 to 2005. She is a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and served as vice president of the West Jersey Reading Counsel and as chairperson of the Burlington County Curriculum Consortium. In light of her exceptional undertakings, Ms. Matlack was presented with the 1995 Lumberton Middle School Teacher of the Year Award, the New Jersey School Board Association School Leader Award in 1998, and the Burlington County Principal and Supervisors Association Visionary Leader Award in 2018.
Ms. Matlack became involved in her profession because as far back as she could remember, she always wanted to be a teacher. It was her career aspiration and she began looking at the children who struggled, and that was also a factor as to why she became a teacher. She wanted to help them and loved working with them, and decided to be a teacher. The highlight of Ms. Matlack’s career was having one of her students graduate and become a third-grade teacher in a nearby district. She got an email from the student’s mother a few years ago, telling her she was famous because her name comes up all the time. Her student was interviewed by a paper and she spoke of a teacher who inspired her, and her mom knew it was her that she was speaking about, which was a very rewarding feeling.
