West, Matt: - Matt West was born in Lawton, Oklahoma, in 1973 and is the older of two sons from a U. S. Navy family. Growing up, he attended schools in New Jersey, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Alabama. After finishing high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, he majored in physical education and minored in biology at the University of West Alabama. He later completed a master's degree in educational administration. Matt taught science and physical education for eighteen years before accepting an assistant principal position in Albertville, Alabama, first at a kindergarten and later at Albertville Middle School, where he is still employed. His wife, Cristy, retired from the Albertville school system in 2019, and the couple has a blended family with five children. The career educator considers himself a lucky man with "a woman that loves and supports me, a job that I love, a truck too good for me, and a family that keeps me laughing."