Matt Bilger Story

 Making a Difference in the Classroom and on the Grid Iron                                                          

“The influence of teachers extends beyond the classroom, well into the future.”              

– F. Sionil Jose.

Childhood experiences among siblings are often similar, with these experiences varying from family to family. Although it is common for siblings to share similar stories, this is not always the case. Harper Creek High School Social Studies teacher Matt Bilger grew up with brothers and sisters, having interests revolving around the performing arts. As a child in the Bilger family, it would have seemed likely that Matt would have spent much of his free time being immersed in activities revolving around music and theater, but this was not how his childhood played out. As a young child, Matt would enjoy experiences different from those of his siblings, which would eventually lead to his future as a teacher and a coach. 

Matt shared some of his childhood history.  “I was born in Ann Arbor in 1989 and grew up in Livonia. My grandmother was a teacher with Livonia Public Schools, and my grandfather was a patrol officer for the Detroit Police Department initially, before being promoted to detective. My mom, Kathy, attended Michigan State University (MSU) to become a teacher, but eventually became a stay-at-home mom. My dad, Donald, grew up in Wisconsin. He won the National Merit Scholarship in high school, with MSU offering him a full-ride academic scholarship. My parents met while attending MSU, with Mom earning a teaching degree and Dad earning an engineering degree. They were married after finishing at MSU, and then they moved to Massachusetts to begin their lives together. Mom started teaching while in Massachusetts, and Dad worked for Bell Labs.”

Donald and Kathy spent four years in Massachusetts before coming back home to start their family. “When Mom and Dad returned to Michigan, Dad accepted a job as an engineer for Ford, working there for thirty-two years before retiring, Matt recalled. “Mom and Dad started a family with Mom staying home to raise me and my siblings. My older brother, Michael, was born in 1983, after Mom and Dad moved back to Michigan. I was born in 1989. My sister, Chrissy, was born two years after me, and my younger brother, Mark, was born four years after Chrissy. We were a Catholic family.” 

Growing up, Matt’s three siblings had much in common, but Matt didn’t share these same traits. This would lead to Matt having different interests than his brothers and sister. Matt reflected on this. “All of my siblings went to the gifted school in Livonia. I had some medical issues when I was born. I developed some hearing issues, so I wasn’t able to attend the gifted school. The schools we attended were not the only major difference between me and my siblings. They grew up with slender body types, while I was more stocky.” 

Donald’s side of the family had roots in music. “My dad was a musician, an interest he shared with his family,” Matt explained. “My uncle was first trumpet for the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra and also taught music at the collegiate level.” Because of the musical interests of Donald’s family, Matt’s siblings became involved in the performing arts growing up, but Matt would pick up interests in other activities. 

 Like Matt, his mom and dad were also overweight. It seemed that they didn’t want Matt to follow in their footsteps in this way. “Because of my weight, my parents pushed me to play sports,” Matt said. “I was the first in my family to participate in athletics. They signed me up for football in the third grade. There were weight restrictions to participate, so I had to drop weight every summer just to be able to play. I also participated in karate, basketball, and lacrosse throughout my elementary school years. When I started middle school, I narrowed my athletic focus to just football and wrestling.” 

Matt and his siblings eventually moved out of Livonia Public Schools to another district. “My older brother began to be bullied in high school,” Matt recalled. “After this, my grandmother insisted that we attend a Catholic school. Financially, we could not have made this work without the help of my grandmother. She had received a substantial sum of money from a wrongful death settlement as a result of a fatal accident my grandfather was involved in while vacationing in Florida after his retirement. The money she received allowed her to pay for our tuition.”

Making the move to a Catholic school provided a boost for Matt as an athlete. He reflected on his four years of high school. “I enrolled at Detroit Catholic Central High School as a freshman. Detroit Catholic has always had a strong athletic presence, including a notable football program. By the time I arrived, they had won three consecutive state championships. I made varsity in my junior year and started as a senior.” Detroit Catholic played in a very competitive conference, the Detroit Catholic League. “There were three athletes from the Detroit Catholic League Conference my senior year who eventually played in the NFL, including one of my teammates, Mike Martin, Geoffrey Pope, who played for University of Detroit Jesuit High School, and Grant Mason, who played for Orchard Lake St. Mary’s,”  Matt said. “In addition, many of my teammates went on to play college football. The high level of coaching and training helped me to excel as a center for our offensive line.” College scouts were always coming in to observe many of Detroit Catholic’s football players, which helped to provide Matt with exposure for prospective college coaches. “During my senior year, many Division 3 schools in the area were recruiting me. I chose Albion College because it offered me the most academic scholarships. They also had the best program for teaching out of the other schools that were recruiting me. I graduated from Catholic Central in 2007 and began to transition from high school to college.”

Matt’s experience as a student athlete for Albion College would pave the way for him as a teacher and a coach. Matt reflected on his time at Albion. “Growing up, I wanted to follow in either my grandfather’s footsteps as a police officer or my mom’s and grandmother’s footsteps as a teacher. Being recruited to play football for Albion helped to guide my career choice. I made up my mind to be a teacher because Albion had a great teaching program.” Playing football and the curriculum he was exposed to at Albion prepared Matt to teach and coach, but there were other opportunities during this time as well that influenced him. “While at Albion, I started coaching young athletes at Lifetime Fitness in Canton, Michigan, during my winter and summer breaks,” Matt explained. “They had a youth program with sports camps that I helped with. This experience made me realize that I was good at coaching kids.”  Seeing that mentoring youth was something that seemed to come naturally for Matt helped to fuel his passion for coaching and teaching. Playing football had been a huge part of Matt’s life thus far, but his time as a competitive athlete would soon end. He was happy to extend his football career with Albion College, but it was also time to plan for his future beyond being an athlete. “I wanted to coach high school athletics and teach at the secondary level,” Matt explained. “I pursued coursework to obtain a secondary physical education and history teaching certificate. My professors at Albion College really helped me prepare to be a teacher. I was blessed with experiences to hone my classroom management skills.” 

Matt was small compared to most linemen he would play with and against at the college level. He talked about his college football career. “I was undersized as a lineman for Albion College. My coaches and trainers immediately put me on a diet and weight training program. When I started at Ablion, I weighed 235 pounds, and by the time I left, I topped the scales at 285 pounds. Dustin Beurer came on board in my junior year as the offensive line coach. He was a great teacher of schemes. I started playing special teams as a junior, and then as a senior, I was the starting center. My senior year, we finished with a five and five record, good enough for a second-place finish in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA).” Matt graduated from Albion College in 2011 with his teaching degree and many experiences to help him make a difference in the classroom and on the playing field.

Matt began working for Harper Creek, January 2012, after graduating from Albion in December. By this time, he was very familiar with Harper Creek. “I came to Harper Creek to student teach under Dave VanGeison and Greg Pastor in the middle school during the fall semester of 2011,” Matt recalled. “At the time, I had never heard of Harper Creek and knew nothing about the district.” Although Matt wasn’t sure what to expect, it turned out to be a great fit for him. “I also helped coach the JV football team with Chad Dishaw, and then I would help out on Friday nights with the varsity team. It was a great year to coach at Harper Creek. There were three D1 college players on that team, including  Kelby Latta, who went to Central Michigan to play football, Josh Bass, who played for Western Michigan, and Casey Carson, who played at Western Michigan. Our team made a deep and memorable run in the playoffs. This was my first experience coaching football. I fell in love with it. The players and coaches were amazing.” Matt also met his future wife, Nicole Rial, a 2006 Harper Creek graduate, while student teaching at the middle school. Nicole was a para-professional at the middle school at the time and also did some coaching for Harper Creek. The two of them hit it off and started dating during Matt’s semester of student teaching.

Matt finished his student teaching and extended his stay at Harper Creek. He reflected on this chapter in his life. “I began substitute teaching for Harper Creek in January 2012 and also coached middle school wrestling in the winter and Varsity lacrosse in the spring. Eventually, I became the head Varsity lacrosse coach and head middle school wrestling coach. I went back to school to obtain my social studies certification, taking classes at Western Michigan, KCC, and Albion College.” After a semester working as a substitute teacher, Matt came back to Harper Creek in the fall of 2012 as a para professional in the middle school, while continuing to help coach the football, wrestling, and lacrosse teams.  He continued working as a para-professional and coach at Harper Creek for two years before transitioning to his first teaching position. “ I accepted a job offer with Pennfield in the fall of 2014  as a sixth-grade social studies teacher,”  Matt said.  “I also joined the football coaching staff at Pennfield as the Varsity offensive line coach and defensive backs coach, and eventually transitioned to defensive coordinator for the JV team, while also helping out with the Varsity team on Friday nights in the press box. During this time, we mounted one of the school's two playoff runs since joining the I-8 conference.” Matt also took over the lacrosse team as head coach for Pennfield during his time there. 

Matt and Nicole were married in 2015. Matt was settling into his life as a husband and his career as a teacher. He had established a comfortable routine, but a change was on the horizon. Harper Creek posted a position for a US History teacher during the summer of 2017. Matt was torn between staying at Pennfield and going back to Harper Creek. “In the summer of 2017, a freshman US History teaching job became available at Harper Creek,” Matt explained. “I wasn’t sure if I wanted to come back to Harper. I was happy at Pennfield and was on the fence. My wife was a Harper graduate, and we knew that our kids would go to school at Harper Creek someday. Ultimately, I decided to go to Harper to teach US History. I stepped back into coaching immediately and was on the Varsity football staff helping Dennis Stansbury with the offensive and defensive line. I was also the JV head lacrosse coach. The following year, I became the defensive coordinator for the Varsity lacrosse team.” 

Since joining Harper Creek as a full-time teacher and coach, Matt has taken on a variety of roles. “During my time at Harper Creek, I have taught US History, Civics and Economics, Senior Social Studies, Personal Finance, and AP Government,” Matt recalled. “Currently, I am the District Curriculum Council (DCC) chair for the Social Studies department. I was also the power-lifting coach for two years. I also teach Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA), which deals with teaching kids the nuances of the business world.” 

Matt has found a career that he is truly passionate about and one that offers him a great amount of fulfillment. He summarized how working with our students and athletes has created contentment for him. “I love teaching and am proud of what I have accomplished.  Last year, I was named our high school’s teacher of the year, which I consider quite an honor and am thankful for. I have mentored several student teachers. I feel that helping to guide future teachers and offer them experience is very important. Each group of kids brings a different experience. I enjoy interacting with the kids. They bring so much energy each day. I have found that kids really do want to learn. After fifteen years of teaching, I have realized that we have kids in our schools who need love and care. If you want kids to succeed as a teacher or coach, you have to care for them.” 

Matt has become a part of the Harper Creek community as a staff member and also with his family, enhancing this connection on a personal level as well. He talked about his family dynamics and the ties to Harper Creek. “Our first child, Landry, was born in 2017. She is in third grade at Beadle Lake. Our second child, Colson, was born in 2019. He is in first grade at Beadle Lake. Nicole spent two years as a para-professional for the middle school before accepting a job as a medical social worker. She worked in the medical field for six years and now works as a social worker for the ISD. She has still found a way to be connected to Harper Creek on a professional level. She is the women’s head Varsity track coach for Harper Creek. She has also helped with cross country. Before helping out with the cross-country team, Nicole coached volleyball for Harper Creek for many years. We both love coaching, but it does require quite a commitment. There was one point in our relationship where both of us were coaching for three seasons.”  

The teaching profession can certainly dish out moments of frustration and anxiety, but hopefully, for those who have made a lifetime career out of it, those distractions can be taken in stride. At times, it may be difficult to see through the clutter of each day, but the moments of joy that come from teaching outweigh the moments of struggle. To be able to come into work each day to something that rewards the soul is a blessing. Matt has been and continues to be a recipient of this blessing. It seems that teaching and coaching have been and continue to be a source of contentment for him.