‘He really does make a difference’: South Elgin HS precision manufacturing teacher wins Golden Apple Award
“Apples to alien oranges.”
That’s how precision manufacturing teacher Matthew Erbach compared more traditional English or science classes to what he does at South Elgin High School.
So Erbach was genuinely surprised when he walked out of his class Wednesday and into a roomful of people at the school there to congratulate him for winning a Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching.
“When I got the initial nomination, I was shocked simply because this is an unusual class,” he said. “It’s tough to compare this to other environments. So I kind of considered it to be a real long shot.”
Erbach was one of 11 teacher recipients of the award and was selected by the Golden Apple Foundation from more than 470 nominations among 9th through 12th-grade teachers in Illinois.
The awards honor outstanding teachers for having lasting, positive effects on students’ lives and school communities.
Erbach received a $5,000 cash award and a spring sabbatical provided at no cost by Northwestern University. He also joins the Fellows of the Golden Apple Academy of Educators, a community of educators dedicated to addressing the teacher shortage in Illinois.
“We hope that Matt is going to prepare the next generation of teachers to be just like him,” said Alan Mather, President of The Golden Apple Foundation.
Erbach has been at South Elgin for two years after spending the previous 16 at Streamwood High School. His wife Kathryn said he’d been keeping an eye out as the winners were being announced throughout the state.
“He didn’t think he had a chance at all. But he’s really amazing at what he does,” she said. “He really does make a difference. I don’t think he gives himself enough credit.”
“He really, really loves what he does. It’s everything to him.”
Erbach was visibly uncomfortable with the attention.
“My watch is pinging me, telling me my heart rate isn’t healthy,” he said when thanking everyone.
He was much more comfortable talking about his students and his classroom full of CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines.
“I would challenge you to show me a class that looks like this anywhere else in the state,” Erbach said while standing next to a 5-axis CNC machine that he said no other high school in Illinois has.
“You see these in colleges. But you don’t see them at this level,” he said. “These are industry-grade machines.”
He pointed out projects the kids were working on, including manufacturing aluminum “leg bones” for a nonprofit that provides prosthetic limbs for people in Latin America.
“I’m immensely proud of what the kids do. They do absolutely cutting-edge work,” he said.
Erbach said they’ve had a lot of “nontraditional postsecondary success” getting students into apprenticeships and jobs straight out of high school.
“I’m not denigrating college in any way, shape or form. If that’s how you meet your career aspirations, please do it,” he said. “But I have another option here.”
Principal Jonathon Miquelon said Erbach has a knack for taking kids who might not engage well in the general education classes and helps them find “a sense of belonging.”
“Matt does an excellent job of challenging his students in an area of education that I don’t think we focus enough on, which is CTE (career and technical education),” Miquelon said. “He brings those students in and teaches them real-world skills that they don’t have to go to college to get, and then connects them with jobs after high school. It’s a huge help with our postsecondary success.”
Erbach said he has about 70 students total for his classes that, as part of the Regional Career Pathways, draw students from across all Elgin Area School District U-46 high schools.
“I would love to see the advanced class double in size. Because that would mean twice as many students that can basically walk onto an entry-level job in this industry, make a great wage and have a nice secure pathway to the middle class with no student debt,” he said.