The Golden Trident

By Addison Bruce

Matthew Marchal is the school’s woodworking master and a teacher with many lives. Marchal is a mysterious character with a witty sense of humor that is always prominent, whether it be telling jokes or timing himself on how fast he can teach a lesson. Although he has resided and taught in Golden for nine years, how did he get here?

Marchal grew up in Ohio constantly doing something outside. He fished, biked, and skateboarded, but most significantly, he built forts and structures with his dad. Marchal says, “That upbringing of helping my dad out kind of instilled that desire of aptitude for working with wood and building things.” Marchal started taking woodworking classes in junior high and high school which taught him new techniques. Then, he graduated from Bowling Green State University where he finished off with a Bachelor’s degree in Construction Management with extra experience from advanced shop classes such as architectural engineering and construction management. After graduation, Marchal had a lot of job opportunities due to his expertise in carpentry.

“We [his colleagues] were all talking about what job we were going to, I had a job with Hensel Phelps long ago. One guy said he was gonna become a shop teacher and it never crossed my mind to become a shop teacher. Within a year of working with Hensel Phelps, they offered me a promotion, I offered them a resignation, and was enrolled in the graduate program in CSU to become a shop teacher.”

In 2003, Montana had the luxury of having Marchal as a resident. He taught at a school where he passed down his knowledge of CAD (computer-aided design) to his students. Marchal says he has taught it throughout his career, especially now in his manufacturing classes. After three years of teaching in Montana, he went to the United States Antarctic Program where he and other national representatives went to Antarctica to conduct research and maintain treaties signed with the region.

 

  In 2006, he headed to New Zealand for his first deployment at USAP. Marchal dedicated about a year of his life to be a part of the program, going in 2006, 2008, and 2014. While stationed at McMurdo, he was a carpenter for the National Science Foundation. He did things like build crates for shipments, set up camps for scientists, and travel to accompany them. 

  “So, similar to what my job is here, I was a foreman in the carpenter shop. So, I would help the apprentice carpenters. We did a lot of tent building. We coined ourselves ‘“tarpenters”’ instead of carpenters because we built a lot of tarp structures. But in the shop, I would build anything that the scientist would require, they’d come in with ice cores and need something that would hold their ice core samples. – Unique projects. Unique location.”

 Now, when I said Marchal is a man of many lives, I meant it. He spent six summers working for the National Park Service. He spent time at Grand Teton National Park and Rocky Mountain National Park.

“I was a historic preservation carpenter, so I would work on several structures that were built around the 1920s, 30s, 40s, and rehabilitated them so that they would endure another century of use. I knew woodworking techniques and then I would have to adapt my technique and practice to what it was I was working on. To mimic how it was done in the past. It was a learning process for me to kind of create something in the likeness of how it had been built.” 

Marchal has expressed how much he loves living and teaching in Golden but as we all know, our town is growing in population and expense. So, why did he choose Golden High School, especially during the boom? He says, “My goal, ultimately, was to teach at Golden High School, after discovering and moving to Golden. I really enjoyed being a part of this community especially and having a community high school for its residents. It’s similar to what I grew up in. I enjoy living in Golden. I enjoy teaching at Golden. A lot of my friends, students, and children have come to Golden High School. Whether through the shop or Senior Sem, it’s neat to have that interaction with the community with my friends’ students.”

Teaching at Golden High School can be tough. I was curious what Mr. Marchal’s least favorite part of teaching was since he specifically sought out this position. 

“I’d say the worst part of being a teacher is the non-teaching aspects of the job. I think that things that wear on me mostly are students’ safety. Whether it be because of my tools or just the environment that we were in, I’m always aware of students’ safety.”

From Ohio to Montana, to New Zealand, to Antarctica. From getting taught, going to college, to national parks, to USAP, to teaching several classes. Marchal ended up in Golden, teaching and thriving. Our community is extremely lucky to have a gem like Marchal teaching manufacturing, leading senior sem, and guiding the junior rafting program, along with so much more!