Peachtree – Meet a 20-year Peachtree resident and local educator who used so little sick time while employed that he was able to retire early. And now he has joined the ranks of published authors.
Arnold Mathews was born in 1963 in Newport News, Va., and grew up in Canton. He lived in Murphy for a few years prior to moving to Peachtree.
Mathews worked at Ingles grocery store, Burger King and country clubs after graduating from Pisgah High School in Canton. He entered Western Carolina University, and in 1985 earned a bachelor of science degree in education for French, then in 1997 received a master’s of school administration degree.
He received a N.C. Principal Fellow grant, which helped fund his education.
After graduating college, Mathews taught French and Spanish. He later was promoted to assistant principal at Hiwassee Dam and Murphy elementary schools, then served as principal of Martins Creek and Murphy elementary schools.
Mathews was recognized as Principal of the Year in 2010 for Cherokee County Schools. After his retirement in 2015, he went on to continue teaching Spanish at Union County High School in Blairsville, Ga., for an additional six years. He has been fully retired since 2023 after 36 years as an educator.
In his career, he has stored to memory numerous stories, many humorous, and as a result he has incorporated them into a book he’s written, Pizza and a Fruit Tray. It is not a cookbook, as he clearly indicated on the cover under its title. Writing the book was a bit therapeutic, as Mathews said there were difficult times in the political world of education.
“Hopefully, this book will offer some humor and some better understanding into the day to day life of an educator ,”he said.
“There is so much more to teaching than simply helping the students to understand reading, writing and arithmetic. There are so many more responsibilities.”
Matthews is already working on a second book, Hotcakes for Supper. The book will share fond memories of times spent with his grandparents.
The husband and father of three also has a granddaughter. He enjoys baking, cooking and is the minister of music at Peachtree Memorial Baptist Church.
Matthews especially enjoys making cheesecakes and scones. Even though his book is not a cookbook, he has included his cheesecake recipe at the end.
In the future, Mathews hopes to be able to spend more time with his family as well as do some traveling. In the meantime, he is planing a book signing at Rare Bird Emporium, 680 Andrews Road in Murphy, from 2-5 p.m. Saturday.
The cost for each book is $10 (cash, check or Venmo). Books can also be found at the online store lulu.com.