OCALA, Fla. — A+ Teacher Timothy Mathews says there is a place for everyone in his class. The Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks teacher says he has all kinds of students with all types of talents.

Mathews likes to see his students’ academic growth during his class.

"We have students who come in here who are terrified of the stage, and at the end of the school year, they're performing in our spring musical or they're backstage and they're working in tech and they're stage-managing a show," he says.

As the performing arts instructor at Horizon Academy at Marion Oaks in Ocala, his students keep him busy.

"Everybody has talent, and it's my job as a teacher to pull that talent from wherever that may be, whether it’s a tech, you know working as a stage manager, working on scene design, or whether it’s being a star in the show," he says.

Mathews says it was his own high school theater teacher that inspired him to choose a career in the classroom.

"A theater teacher changed my life. That was huge for me," he says. "I have been in theater since I was 8, and I've always wanted to be a teacher."

His students are learning skills in his classroom that help them shine in and outside of school, Mathews says. 

He adds that he wants to, "make sure that every student is heard. Every student is seen. Every student feels like they're accepted and that they know that they're welcome, they're wanted."  

Mathews says that really makes a difference.

"These kids. They get the wind of theater happening here, and they go, ‘Wait! That's what I want to do,’ and out of their bodies comes this transformative power of performing arts where they're able to change lives, where their voices are so, they're gems," he says. "My goal is to get these kids to embrace their inner theater geek."