Teacher Spotlight: Nyuol Lueth Tong Matiok
Nyuol Lueth Tong Matiok is a new addition to the Sequoyah faculty. He teaches Humanities to 9th graders and two upper-level English courses, Migrant Literature and SAS The Truth of Fiction and the Fiction of Truth. He was born in South Sudan, grew up in Egypt, and spent his teenage years in the United States.
Lueth Tong Matiok is a man of many cultures and many multitudes. He is highly comedic but is also able to effectively command his students’ attention. You may have had the privilege of being in one of his classes, but if not, you have definitely seen him around campus in his signature tweed grey coat and inscrutable sunglasses. When asked where his sunglasses are from, he cryptically stated, “Just the usual, Santa Barbara.”
Lueth Tong Matiok is a highly accomplished intellectual and holds degrees from Duke, Yale, and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. When asked why he enjoys teaching at Sequoyah, Lueth Tong Matiok said, “There are a few things about Sequoyah that I like, specifically the curriculum, which allows our faculty to design their own courses.” He then remarked, “The students, for the most part, are good, and the faculty are great.”
The reader may have seen Lueth Tong Matiok nonchalantly walking off campus after school or during lunch with headphones in his ears. He finally put the super-villain rumors to rest and told The Barefoot Times where he goes during lunch. “Depends on the day,” he said. “Sometimes I go to the Norton Simon Museum, and occasionally I go home, which is not that far from campus.”
Lueth Tong Matiok is beloved by his students and advisees. His advisee Benjamin Cox ’28 said, “I’m really happy to be in Nyuol’s advisory. I think he’s like the best advisor possible.” When asked about the four best adjectives to describe him, Cox replied, “Intelligent, intriguing, blissful, and cool.” Although Cox was unable to corroborate that Lueth Tong Matiok visits the Norton Simon Museum at lunch, he did offer that he believed Lueth Tong Matiok’s sunglasses may be from “a really cool kiosk at The Americana Mall in Glendale, California.”
Lueth Tong Matiok does not just teach Humanities at Sequoyah; he is also the renowned and inspiring SIP advisor for the Wealth Inequality SIP. When asked if she considered Lueth Tong Matiok to be a good SIP advisor, Hazel Waller ’28 responded, “No. Absolutely not. I would consider him to be an extraordinary one.” She went on further to relate that “He really makes it his priority to engage all the students in every topic and discussion.” When The Barefoot Times asked Waller to describe Lueth Tong Matiok in four adjectives, she replied, “Very intellectual, very hilarious, very sarcastic, and very engaging.”
Overall, the verdict is clear: whether we truly know where he gets his sunglasses or goes to lunch, Lueth Tong Matiok is a valuable and beloved new member of the Sequoyah community.