by Mary Jo David

If she couldn’t land a career as Hannah Montana, teaching was right up there as a close second in career choices for Abby Nicholson. As she begins her third year of teaching at Stockbridge Jr./Sr. High School—this year she is teaching biology and physics—Nicholson says she has no regrets about leaving her own middle school Hollywood dreams behind.

After graduating from Abilene Christian University, Nicholson taught for one year in Texas, where she grew up. She married her high school sweetheart, Josh, and when he was accepted into a graduate program at Michigan State University, the couple moved well over 1,000 miles north to begin their new adventure in The Mitten State.

Having taught chemistry and physics prior to this year, the switch to biology and physics is a bit of a change for Nicholson. She has noticed that students tend to be either life science or physical science people. Although it’s not guaranteed, she does find that students who take to history and English are more likely to enjoy biology—a life science. Students who like math are more likely to enjoy the physical sciences like chemistry and physics.

“Biology is a required course, so the challenge is to make it interesting to some students who don’t entirely love being there,” Nicholson said. “For these students, I try to incorporate more hands-on activities and labs to hold their attention. They seem to appreciate the class more when they can see how their learning can be applied to the real world.”

Nicholson is an example of why you should never pigeonhole a person solely based on a single interest. When she was growing up, she spent years participating in studio dance—ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop—as well as drill team. And she loved to sing. Meanwhile, though, her favorite subjects were math and science. So it was only logical that she would meld her two worlds constructively by doing things like composing a song to help her learn the quadratic formula! 

In her sophomore year of high school, her chemistry teacher asked Nicholson if she’d like to tutor after school. That’s when she discovered she loved helping other kids learn science. Her choir teacher, too, suggested she may want to consider a career in education. So she embarked on the Education and Training Program in high school, which was like a teaching internship.

“I had the benefit of being a student teacher while I was still in high school. I interned in second, third, and eighth grades. It was during my time spent helping eighth graders that I discovered my passion for the upper grade levels.”

Fast forward to her years since college, and Nicholson says she is committed to emphasizing strong relationships in her classroom.

“My priority is to get to know each and every student personally—who they are as human beings. I believe my students genuinely know I care about them as people,” she said.

She encourages the parents of her students to do the same, to get to know each child at the child’s level. Be involved, in school and out, and do things their kids love to do, even if they don’t particularly enjoy it.

Nicholson is acutely aware there are not enough hours in the day. Her college days when she’d spend hours and hours … and hours … on developing a single lesson plan are behind her. While she remains passionate about everything she does, as the mother of a 1-year-old, she is also realistic about the trade-offs between family life and her life as a teacher.

“My family is always my No. 1. They are what drive me,” Nicholson said. “But as a bit of a perfectionist, I do try to capitalize on all the time I have with my students to educate them,  build relationships with them and my peers, and consistently encourage my high schoolers to be successful and engaged.”

Her and husband Josh have a wonderful support system for their daughter. After Freya was born, Abby’s mom, grandmother, and mother-in-law have been tag-team babysitting for Freya during the school year.

“What?” you might ask. “Didn’t you say they are from Texas?”

Yes, you read that right. Abby and Josh both grew up in Texas, but between them, the couple’s moms and grandma have been taking turns flying to Michigan, in three-week shifts, to babysit for Freya. Now that’s dedication!

So while her original career choice was to be Hannah Montana, Nicholson has moved on to other things. Her students and coworkers are the reason she is back every day with a smile on her face. She encourages her students to shoot for the moon with their goals but to stay safe and make good choices. And she loves hearing about their successes.

After all, as Hannah used to say, “Life’s what you make it!”

All photos provided by Abby Nicholson.