By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When Jeff Nichols was studying to become a teacher, he was told science was where the money was. But Nichols figured if he was going to spend everyday talking about a subject it should be something he loves.
So for 30 years, Nichols has been teaching government and social studies at Bowling Green High School.
“I’ve been in school since preschool. I never left,” he said as he spoke Thursday to the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club about the rewards and challenges of teaching.
“I love it,” Nichols said.
Teaching government and social studies to high school students has always been an arduous job. And teaching it now in a world wired with technology, with government leaders digging deeper divisions, has made it even more challenging.
But teenagers who were oblivious to the importance of government suddenly became engaged during the presidency of Donald Trump, Nichols said.
“He galvanized people to talk about government. Since then the kids are on fire. For a long time they couldn’t care less, and that’s dangerous.”
As he’s teaching government in the classroom, Nichols is aware that some in state government are trying to limit public school curriculum.
“Everyday they are thinking about classes we can’t teach,” he said.
Nichols is very careful to not reveal his political leanings in the classroom, despite persistent prying questions from students.
“I get really mad when I read stuff about teachers trying to indoctrinate students,” when educators work hard to keep their personal feelings out of the classroom.
There is much to love about teaching, Nichols said, with making a positive impact on society at the top of the list.
“You become influential in a child’s life,” he said.
As he looks around the Bowling Green community, he sees the fruits of his labors. There’s the student who jumped out of the window of Nichol’s second story classroom on a bet – who now sells cars.
There’s “Joey” Fawcett and Jeff Dennis, both working in Bowling Green city government. Nichols likes to believe he helped them develop critical thinking, and “now they’re making a difference.”
And there’s the kid who Nichols would play chess with after football practice as they waited for the student’s parent to pick him up. The boy beat him every time, and recently reached out to see if his former teacher wanted to meet him at Grounds for Thought for another match.
Nichols, who has coached football and girls basketball, had forgotten about those chess games, “but it meant something to him,” he said.
He appreciates seeing former students in the community – though it often means that a quick trip to the grocery store takes close to an hour. He has become part of many students’ lives, attending their weddings and loved one’s funerals.
After three decades of teaching, Nichols often has offspring of former students in his classroom. Inevitably, the second generation students will inquire about their parents’ performance at school. Nichols said he never rats out their parents.
Nichols enjoys the variety of roles required for teachers. On any given day, he is a teacher, mentor, security guard, confidant, usher and psychologist.
“We’ve lived through some tumultuous moments,” which make all the roles necessary.
As a high school teacher, Nichols gets to celebrate joys in students’ lives – birthdays, first time voting, memorizing their lines for musicals, and being accepted to college.
Learning is a two-way street in his classroom. From his students, he knows about FFA soil testing, he gets top-notch computer assistance, and he is acquainted with the music of Dua Lipa, the Fruit Bats and Yung Gravy.
Nichols, who is president of the Bowling Green Education Association and whose wife, Kisha Nichols, teaches second grade at Kenwood Elementary, assured his audience that students are getting a quality education at Bowling Green City Schools.
“There’s a lot of negativity we hear about school and teachers and education,” he said. “We have quality people in this district.”
And he praised retiring Superintendent Francis Scruci for his support of students and staff.
“He’s always looking out for staff and doing good things for teachers and kids,” Nichols said.
