Nicholas Johnson, a chemistry teacher at Hopewell Valley Central High School, has recently been selected as Mercer County Teacher of the Year by the New Jersey Department of Education.
Johnson is one of 21 educators who have been named Teacher of the Year in their county, and are currently under consideration for State Teacher of the Year, which will be selected in October.
“I am honored to recognize the 2018-2019 County Teachers of the Year,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a press release. “These 21 educators exemplify the outstanding level of talent and commitment that exists in New Jersey’s public schools. Their hard work and dedication is a critical part of making our state’s public education system one of the best in the country and creating a life-long love of learning for New Jersey’s students.”
In order to receive the title of Mercer County Teacher of the Year, the teacher first had to win the Governor’s Teacher of the Year Award, which is school-based. Johnson was given this title in January of 2018. From that pool. Johnson said, the teachers were in the running for Mercer County Teacher of the Year, and then national and international awards.
“I was very excited,” Johnson said when he first found out he was named Mercer County Teacher of the Year. “First of all, it was a great honor. I work very hard in my job, so it was nice to be noticed for that.”
While he was in high school, Johnson first became interested in teaching from his own high school chemistry teacher, Mr. Hodge.
“For me, he was so entertaining and made everything so fun and interesting,” he said. “That inspired me to study chemistry, but a lot of it was the art of teaching. I sat there and thought, ‘This guy is having a good time up there and enjoying himself,’ and he was able to pass that on to so many students.”
After high school, Johnson attended Lycoming College in Pennsylvania, majoring in chemistry and enrolling in an education program. In the summer before his senior year, he completed an internship with Croda Inc., a company that makes the components that go into beauty products, such as oils and fragrances in shampoos and lotions.
“I was sort of attracted to the science world, like research development,” he said. “I did [the internship] in a lab and saw some of the work a real chemist does.”
Despite this, Johnson quickly discovered working in a lab wasn’t for him.
“You just didn’t interact with many people,” he said.
With a chemistry degree and an education program completed, Johnson interviewed at Hopewell Valley Central right out of college. He initially didn’t get the job, he said, and had already signed with another school in northern New Jersey. Right before the school year was set to begin, Hopewell Valley Central’s hiree dropped out of the position, and the school quickly hired Johnson. He has just started his 10th year at the high school.
Since Johnson first began teaching at Hopewell Valley Central, his teaching style has evolved from lecture style to integrating technology, as well as using the concepts of “flipped and blended classrooms.”
In a blended classroom, technology is used hand-in-hand with orthodox teaching styles, while a flipped classroom reverses the process of a traditional classroom.
“With a flipped classroom, you [initially] learn the content at home through a video, or listening to a podcast — some kind of online content — and when you’re in school, thats where you practice the content, engage in it or do some real world application,” Johnson said.
As part of Johnson’s initiative to blend technology into education, he and fellow Cscience teacher Eric Guise have developed a podcast, GotTechED, available on iTunes and GooglePlay.
“Every two weeks we release an episode that features various segments, mostly focused on the latest and greatest educational technology available to educators,” he said. “It is meant to be quick and easy professional development for busy teachers on-the-go.”
These new teaching styles, Johnson said, have allowed his students to become more engaged and retain information effectively than in a lecture-style lesson.
Principal Tana Smith commented on Johnson’s latest achievement, saying, “Johnson is an extremely dedicated, passionate and creative teacher. He motivates in a subtle, yet effective way, ensuring each student feels valued. We are so fortunate to work with Johnson in our high school, and are incredibly proud of his accomplishments.”
Like his high school chemistry teacher Mr. Hodge, Johnson hopes to inspire his students the way his teacher inspired him.
“I sort of want to keep that legacy going, showing them how fun it is and how good it is to keep learning even when you’re not in school, and how important it is to process through things in their life — not just with chemistry — but finding some passion you can devote to and work through,” he said. “Teaching kids all those things is why I do the job.”
