Upstate Parent's 2024 Educators Who Make A Difference: Matt Critell

Principal, Bethel Elementary

‘At some point, everyone looks back on ‘first day of the rest of their life.’ I like to think it comes back to a small moment in a classroom’

As principal of Bethel Elementary School, Matt Critell focuses on relationships. Consistent, years-long contact with students and their families is what delights him about his role, but it wasn’t his original career path.

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“I originally wanted to be a pediatrician because I saw it as a way to support and positively impact children,” he said. “Halfway through my senior year in high school I was enrolled in a service class and found the love of education. I realized that I could create lasting impacts with children on a daily basis in this field. I found that the real calling to help children was not in medicine but education. It was my goal to create a love of learning and the gifts life puts in front of us on a daily basis. As I developed into a young educator, I realized that my reach and mission could be even broader if I served as a principal. I now have the opportunity to care, support, and share the love of learning with over 100 staff, over 900 students, and countless parents on a daily basis. I love every minute of it!”

Critell said his goal is to inspire everyone he encounters to be the best version of themselves and find a spark that lights the fire of their life.

“At some point in everyone’s life they look back on a moment that was the ‘first day of the rest of their life,’ and I like to think that it all comes back to a small moment in a classroom,” he said. “Whether it was a lecture that piqued an interest, a teacher who took the time to truly know the student, or a teacher that became a mentor who remained with a child for years long after they called them teacher, I like to think education is the vessel that allows this magic to take place.”