Matt Matteson said college studies will focus on landscaping career.
High school senior, Matthew (Matt) Matteson, 17, has attended the Town of Webb School since kindergarten.
“It’s been good. I’ve always liked it here because you know everyone in the entire school,” he said.
After graduation he plans to attend Morrisville State College to study horticulture and landscaping.
Matt is a General Education Work Program student this year, and he works mornings with his dad at Matteson’s Market in White Lake.
In the afternoon, he attends classes at the Town of Webb School that include English, History, Gym and Band.
He has played the trumpet in Band since fifth grade, he said. “I was in stage band until this year. I enjoyed it, but just couldn’t do it this year because of the Work Program.”
He also played on the baseball team at school from seventh to tenth grade, and had been a member of Travel Club and Key Club.
Mr. Jed Kinney, who teaches Government and Economics, is a favorite teacher, he said.
Matt’s interests outside school include snowmobiling and going fishing with friends on Brewer Lake, Fourth Lake and the Moose River. “I catch quite a bit,” he said, adding that he recently caught a 25-inch Lake Trout on Fourth Lake.
Fishing has been a favorite sport since he was 10 or 12 when he caught his first laker, he said.
“It was 21 inches and I caught it out of White Lake.”
Matt also enjoys hunting with his dad for deer and grouse near his home in White Lake and in the southern tier region.
He likes being outdoors. “That’s why I’m going for landscaping,” he said. “I don’t want to be inside.”
He’s considering switching to Landscape Architecture in college, which is a five year program, he said.
On graduation night he said he will feel both happy and sad.
“I’ll be moving on to something new and bigger, but at the same time I’m leaving everything I know. I’ll make new friends but I’ll be leaving all my friends that I’ve grown up with and known since kindergarten and I’ll have to start over.”
Matt is the son of Jim and Bridget Matteson. He has two brothers, Josh, 14, and four-year old, Jim, Jr.
