Science teacher Matt Benoit was born in Raleigh, North Carolina in April 1977. Benoit grew up with two older brothers, along with three cats and one dog. He attended South Hadley High School, which eventually drew him back to being a teacher here. Throughout school, he described himself as being super social and “outstanding” academically.

While in school, Benoit played lacrosse, and was a defense and face-off specialist. His love for the sport is still there and can be seen in his classroom, decorated with trophies and newspaper cutouts. Benoit even keeps a lacrosse stick in the room. Even though he is not as involved in the sport nowadays, students still refer to him as “Coach.” He prefers that over “Mr. Benoit.” 

Before his teaching and coaching days, one of Benoit’s first jobs was working at a bakery, where he said he unfortunately washed dishes. He told us this was the worst job he’d ever had. After high school, Benoit went to Eastern Connecticut State University where he majored in biology and minored in physical science.

He then continued his schooling at UMass Amherst, where he received a master’s in educational leadership. During his time in college, he took a trip to Belize with one of his classes. While they were there he and his classmates studied tropical ecosystems. They stayed in the rainforest for eight days before moving out to a reef for another nine days. 

Before teaching at the high school, Benoit was an educator in Florida. He shared a story of teaching there on September 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center buildings were destroyed in an attack orchestrated by Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terror organization.

“I was actually in a classroom down in Florida, and I didn’t know what to do,” Benoit said. “My students came in and said this just happened. We turned on the TV and everyone was in awe. Then I contacted a few of my friends in New York to make sure they were okay.”       

Now that Benoit is back at the high school, he has built many friendships, both with faculty and students. This isn’t surprising considering his upbeat personality and willingness to help out. But when the school day is over Benoit goes from being teacher to dad. He has two children, a son who is eleven, and a daughter who is nine. He told us that being a dad was important to him, but even more so being a good one.

When asked what historical figure he would want to meet, Benoit chose Julius Caesar.

“It would be cool to see how that society was and how one person could rule over so much.”