Roger Matthews

Listen to the instructions and press 9 to hear the "Grizzly Growl."

To anyone who has ever heard this or happened to follow these instructions just now, the man providing this voice is Roger Mathews, art instructor at Butler Community College.

While he was joking with some students, Mathews' gruff, boisterous voice caught the attention of Butler President, Dr. Jackie Vietti, who asked him later on to provide the "Grizzly Growl."

He has joyfully shared 29 years with students at Butler and is still going strong. He has his Master's degree in Art Education from Wichita State University, which he admitted was ironic since what he teaches at Butler was self-taught.

"I went to an art show in San Antonio, Texas and met some officers' wives who went to the show and they saw that I was from Kansas," said Mathews.

He continues that the women were being transferred with their husbands to McConnell. The officers' wives had been interested in Butler of McConnell teaching a Stained Glass class and relayed that message to her husband.

One of them was married to the Commander of McConnell Air Force Base and he started contacting the sponsors of classes at McConnell. In turn, they asked Mathews to join their staff.

"I said, ‘Wow, I'd be honored,' and that was the beginning of a soon-to-be 30-year arrangement with Butler," he said.

Although he started at McConnell Air Force Base, when they shut down their studio classes in Fall 2005, he moved to the El Dorado campus

Mathews is currently teaching Ceramics I and II; Jewelry I and II; Stained Glass I and II and 3-Dimensional Design. He also teaches Personal Projects I, II, III and IV.

During his spare time, he also works on many different projects of his own. There was a time when he had to worry he was going to lose that part of his life.

"I was in a horrible car wreck 10 years ago that I never had any real hope of ever using my hands again and there was doubt that I could walk even. I lost 70% of my vision, so the making of art was taken away from me," Mathews said.

"I found that being able to teach more than met my emotional needs and actually gave me a reason to get up and go to work."

Eventually, thanks to numerous surgeries and hospital visits, Mathews was able to regain his movement. Doctors transplanted and reattached his nerves, and he was given back both aspects of his world. The accident also gave him something more.

"It's almost like I can remember my old life as somebody else's dream," Mathews said. "It gave me an opportunity to reconnect with my [6] kids who are now the men and women that I admire and enjoy as much as anyone else on earth."

As well as granting him the opportunity to spend more time with his family, Mathews also feels that it gave him some greater insight into his students.

"It gives me great compassion for people that have legitimate issues to deal with, but very little patience with folks that are whiney piney about something. I know the difference and have very little tolerance for disrespect," Mathews said.

As he recovered from his accident, Butler helped Mathews by hiring people to help and to make adjustments for his handicaps. During a time when he had to find the motivation to get out of bed each day, Butler gave him the inspiration to keep on going.

"As we hear Jackie Vietti talk about the Butler family, it is. Blood is thicker than water, and these folks proved that by keeping me and that's pretty impressive, which makes me thrilled to work here, honored to work here," Mathews said. "To be a part of these types of values is pretty amazing."

Mathews is very proud of his experiences at Butler. He attempts to steer his students down the right path, helping them learn what they need to be successful in their lives, both in and out of the art studio.

"I teach full time. I run a studio shop gallery in Wichita. I do 18-20 national juried art shows a year, from New York City to Seattle, Wa. and then I have all of those kids and hobbies. I am probably a busy kind of guy," Mathews said.