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Social Studies teacher Matt Brown is a guy who doesn’t mind trying something new. That quality has resulted in him having a variety of skills that naturally come along with the effort to learn more about his hobbies.
“I coach, I cook, I build things and I make beer,” said Mr. Brown. “I have a hard time not having a project. That’s a family trait. Everyone in my family never sits still. We always have a project going.”
Results of Mr. Brown’s various projects are usually tasty, like the peach, goat cheese and honey pizza he makes in the outdoor kitchen he built around the pizza oven he built. He also built the patio it all sits on, and did his own landscaping.
But back to that pizza oven he built…
“I like to cook and they’re really expensive pre-made and I’m decent with masonry work so I just tried it,” said Mr. Brown. “It came with instructions, like adult Legos.”
He uses the pizza oven as a smoker, too, making ribs, smoked wings and even the Thanksgiving turkey.
“We have a wooded lot, so I’m cooking with wood that I cut and split myself.”
His love of cooking carries into the kitchen inside the house as well with his signature dishes being chili and pulled pork. Bonding in the Brown family, which includes sophomore AJ and freshman Addie, often includes cooking and baking.
Another food-related hobby of Mr. Brown’s is brewing beer, something he’s been doing for about 12 years.
“I just like to try different styles of beer and I started brewing just before craft beer became a thing,” he said. “I just wanted variety. It’s a nice way to be outside. On a brew day I spend a couple of hours outside on the patio. It’s like another cooking process,” he said. “You start with a recipe and make changes off of that. I like to make things you don’t see in the store like gingered ale in the spring and a jalapeño raspberry every fall.”
His advice about learning hobbies like his is, “Just try it. Don’t be intimidated. Even your mistakes can often be fun or taste good.”
That is an attitude he carries into his coaching of 11-year-olds at the Greater Columbus Volleyball Club and into the classroom here at BWHS.
“I encourage students to make good mistakes,” he said. “There are good wrong answers. In class I call on them whether or not they raise their hand. Being wrong or making a mistake is not fatal but a lot of this generation thinks that.
“I heard a couple of years ago everything is a lesson or a blessing,” said Mr. Brown. “It’s great when you have success – a good day at a tournament in volleyball or a good test or whatever. That’s a great blessing. Everything else is a lesson. Just learn from it and try again next time. No big deal.”
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