As we near our 15-year anniversary, we are reminded of how much we value and appreciate our TEAMBOOST partners and want you to meet them. Learn more about our team members and their journeys through the in and out-of-school time field, their goals and aspirations, a few fun things about them, and some of the amazing things they are doing in their communities.
We will be featuring our BOOST Bloggers, Ambassadors, Leadership Team members, and Partners weekly through the end of November to thank our wonderful team members for their contributions to our incredible community!
Meet BOOST Blogger & Partner Matthew Farber, Ed.D.
How did you enter the OST, expanded learning, and/or educational field?
As a middle school teacher, I advised several afterschool clubs. In higher education, I continue to conduct research in OST, including leading game jams.
What motivates you to do this work?
Game jams in OST is rewarding as youth develop and share games as a form of self-expressive art.
What are you currently reading or watching?
Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
Share some of your greatest accomplishments.
Collaborating with UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), a category 1 Research Institute focused on digital learning and SEL with youth, globally.
What are some big goals you are working toward?
A personal and professional goal is to create a game as a creative work.
What are your top three leadership qualities?
Name a leader that you admire and why?
Fred Rogers, for his compassion.
Share an inspirational quote that resonates with you.
“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future.” Steve Jobs.
As a child, what were your career aspirations?
It took me a while to sort out a career aspiration, actually.
What causes are you passionate about?
Animal and pet welfare, such as ASPCA.
What is one of the highlights of your career?
Promotion and tenure, which took a lot of perseverance in scholarship, service, and teaching.
How do you show kindness to others and/or share ways others have shown kindness to you?
Prosocial acts should not include expectations that you will get something in return. Instead, moral goodness should be about goodwill—being kind and compassionate for altruistic reasons.
What career legacy do you want to leave?
As a promoter of the social good.
What’s the biggest mistake you made on the job and what did you learn from it?
An early mistake was not co-designing lessons with students. Incorporating student voice and choice is invaluable.
Tell us what you had for breakfast!
Starbucks coffee, turkey bacon, and a keto muffin.
From all of us here at TEAMBOOST, thank you, Matthew, for being a valued BOOST Partner and Blogger, and for sharing your story with us!