Recently, the Pace community received the devastating news on August 18th that beloved language teacher David Matanes had sadly passed away a few days prior. Although Mr. Matanes had been struggling with his health, the news came as a shock to the community, who loved him dearly. His loss has left a hole in the hearts of all of his students and faculty members who were lucky enough to call him a close friend.
Mr. Matanes worked at Pace for over 20 years. He worked in the language department as both an incredible French and Spanish teacher. He often referred to Pace as his ‘Pace Family’ rather than the ‘Pace Community’ because he saw Pace as his home and truly loved everyone he got to know. Not only was he a goofy light in our Pace Family, he was someone both students and colleagues could truly count on. Even if students didn’t have him as their Spanish or French teacher, he was always a friendly face in the hallway who wanted to put a smile on everyone’s faces. Mr. Matanes had a way of making learning fun for everyone, even if they went into class with the mindset that language was not for them. Whether it was joking about Britney Spears and baby back ribs from Applebee’s or using the pom-poms he kept in his desk to teach verb conjugations, students and teachers alike could always hear the laughter and joy coming from his classroom.
Mr. Matanes taught both Honors French III as well as the AP French classes, so the relationships he formed with his French students often spanned multiple years of being in his class. Students could tell that he was not only interested in French but also enamored by it. He was passionate about every lesson he taught, as well as the French culture that was gifted along with it.
“Mr. Matanes’ French class never failed to be the highlight of my day. I’ve never laughed harder at school than I did from his jokes and stories. He brought our class together, and we all miss him so much,” said junior Paige Vadnais. Paige’s class is a small French class that has consisted of mostly the same students since sixth grade. Over the years, there have been some people who joined the class and others who switched classes, or couldn’t quite fit French into their schedule, but more or less, it is a tight-knit group of students who were put together by chance. Across the board, the kids in this specific class shared that although they had all gotten to know each other over the years, Mr. Matanes’ class made them form a stronger bond than they could have ever imagined. It also gave them a common love of the French language and culture that not all of them expected to find.
“Mr. Matanes truly made me enjoy coming to French Class every day, because I knew whatever we would be learning that day, a fun story or activity was going to come along with it,” added junior Ava Grant. It is these stories and activities that made Mr. Matanes’ class stand out from all of Ava’s past French classes at Pace. Ava also shared that one of her favorite memories of Mr. Matanes’s class was when he told a fictional story in French that he made up on the fly about his life before coming to Pace. In this story, Mr. Matanes joked that he was a super villain bank robber who made his riches off of storming through banks and raiding their goods, until one day, he met Mr. Assaf and decided a lifestyle of teaching was more up his alley. It was creative and comical moments like this that made Mr. Matanes.
Mr. Matanes only had one Spanish class – College Prep Spanish III. Even though he was more passionate about the French language, he brought the same amount of energy and effort to the Spanish classroom as he did to his French classes. He included his infectious humor in each and every one of his lessons, always finding an opportunity to relate to his students by including Sydney Sweeney or Lil Huddy in his explanations.
In addition to being hilarious, Mr. Matanes always made sure each and every student understood the curriculum. He came up with funny ways to remember vocabulary words or certain conjugations, so it would stick with all of his students, even the ones who struggled with learning a new language. He made up mnemonic devices like “kill ron” and pounded his chest while sounding out “or-gu-llo-so.” He gave students the space to be silly, bold, and unafraid to make mistakes. His students felt confident with him and knew they had a safe space to be authentic and mess up in his class.
“Mr. Matanes was one of my favorite teachers ever! He was always in such a goofy mood and made every class fun!” said junior Cailynn Bennett. Mr. Matanes made learning fun and his teaching made everyone thrilled to go to class every day. There was never a dull moment around Mr. Matanes. For Cailynn and many other students, he will forever be remembered as a teacher who made students excited to get up and go to school. He had the ability to both teach effectively and brighten everyone’s day. He made a lasting impact on all of his students and colleagues and will never be forgotten by his Pace Family. We will fondly remember him any time we drive past an Applebee’s or listen to a Britney Spears song.
