At the start of this year’s Back to School Night, Mr. Robert Nusum introduced himself to the parents of his technology pupils with a leaflet of his credentials and a joke — in the form of a discrepancy.

“I gave one sheet out, one sheet, that said I graduated from the Patuxent Institution in Jessup,” he chuckled. “They were nervous about asking. I said, ‘Oh, yeah, is it about my background? Yeah, my parole officer, he tells me never to put that in there.’”

Actually a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and College of Notre Dame, Mr. Nusum has been teaching English and Math for 26 years, most recently at St. Vincent Pallotti High School.

He said that he is now teaching Technology Solutions because “it’s a new challenge. I’ve never taught it before, but many components of it have always interested me…Challenge is what keeps you working hard.”

At the very least, challenge is what keeps students working – which is why he said he jokes with his kids all the time. “It keeps them alert. They’re questioning everything. If something’s not challenging, you tend to fall asleep.”

Eager to slip in a final mention of his students before leaving, he pointed out the things they drew, taped along the walls of his room, for an assignment earlier this school year. “The students [are] probably why I like [teaching] so much,” Mr. Nusum mused. Although they were all given the same assignment, each drawing differed from the next, each marking individuality. Mr. Nusum said that Eleanor Roosevelt High School, in particular, fits the definition of diverse. “I didn’t want to go back to public school without researching the right school,” Mr. Nusum confessed. “[ERHS] is so much like my high school that I went to. We had a ridiculously diverse school. It’s very…comfortable teaching at a school that’s similar to it.”

Ellen Rauck, a freshman taking Mr. Nusum’s Technology Solutions course, said that “[he tells] stories to the class, that [seem] very pointless at the time, but he always [has] a specific reason for telling these stories. Mr. Nusum uses stories to teach so that his students can relate to what they are learning…I enjoy his class.”

His influence is not reserved for just the classroom. As the new coach of Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s wrestling team, and a former high school wrestler himself, Mr. Nusum believes that “it’s great to have an educator in the wrestling room, or in any sport, because it’s an extension of the classroom.” Along with a droll quip about his age, he added, “I love competing, but I’m done with competing…Coaching it has been my favorite thing, not the sport [itself].”

Christian Bryant, captain of the Varsity Wrestling team, commented on Mr. Nusum’s coaching style: “What is mainly different [about him] is his idea of pressure and wearing down your opponent, which I feel will benefit the team enormously…I feel that he will take this team to where it needs to go.”

When not in the class or weight room, Mr. Nusum is further developing his multitude of hobbies. “I love landscaping people’s yards and gardens. Second is home improvement projects. And third is traveling. I’ve been to 42 countries; [my wife and I have] been very fortunate.”