Chandler Public Schools

Nick Julkowski is a math/explorer teacher at Chandler Junior High.  He has been teaching for six years and is in his second year at Chandler.  Nick is also the High School Assistant Baseball Coach, and Junior High Football Coach. Known by most of the kids as “Coach J”, he grew up in Portland, Oregon before moving and finishing high school at Stillwater High School in Oklahoma. He also attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater.  

Q  What led you to teaching?
A  I had some very influential teachers (and coaches) growing up and was inspired by them to pursue teaching and coaching myself.

Q  Did you have any key mentors or people who influenced your decision to become an educator? 
A  My Senior AP English teacher inspired me the most to become an educator. The way she was able to reach students and help them realize how much they were capable of above what they believed was pretty amazing. My high school baseball coach was also a great mentor while I was finishing high school. That continued when he gave me my first high school coaching opportunity.

Q  What would you say most motivates you to teach?
A  My favorite part of learning was being challenged and the feeling of the mental light bulb going off when everything clicked. That is what motivates me and what I strive for as an educator. I want to see students experience that light bulb going off. I want to see their efforts being rewarded.

Q  What are you most excited or passionate about? 
A  When it comes to educating young people and coaching young men, I get very excited when they simply get it. When they work their tails off, put in the effort, and dedicate themselves to learning and they get rewarded with a good understanding of the concepts being taught. Outside of education, as you will see below, I am pretty passionate about OSU athletics. I am very invested and attached to many sports and my emotions tend to reflect how those teams are performing so depending on the sport, it can sometimes be quite the roller coaster.

Q  What do you find most challenging about being a teacher?
A  What I find most challenging about being a teacher is encouraging students to think freely and creatively. While we do live in a digital world with technology everywhere, I think students sometimes rely too much on the resources they have rather than giving themselves a chance to think and use their own brain power to lead them. While I catch myself sometimes getting caught up in technology a little too much as well, I want students to believe that while there are resources out there that can be very helpful and reliable, it is okay to try on your own and risk failure before seeking out help.

Q  What's the best thing to happen since you started teaching?
A  The best thing for me as a teacher is always at the end of the year when students come to you before leaving for the summer and thank you for investing in them, pushing them to achieve more than they thought they could, and for never giving up on them. Sometimes the process can be quite grueling, but when they are able to physically see the results and the outcome, they understand and are appreciative and I always look forward to that moment.

Q  What might students and parents be surprised to know about you? 
A  I'm a huge hockey fan. I played hockey for a few years growing up.

Q  What profession other than your own would you most like to attempt? 
A  I have always been a sports junkie, so a job in the front office of a Major League ball club or working in a collegiate athletic program in some manner.

Q  What are three things every teacher should own?
A  Patience, a sense of humor, and eyes in the back of their head.

Tell us a little bit about your family, and how you enjoy spending your free time:
I am not married and I do not have kids. I have immediate family that lives in Perry and the rest of my extended family lives in Portland. Being an OSU Alum, I follow many OSU sports closely, holding season tickets to Football, Men's Basketball, and Baseball. I also attend as many Wrestling duals and Softball games as I can. I love traveling and seeing new places. A few of my friends and I usually try to pick one away football game each season and plan a trip around it. I enjoy supporting the kids I see in the classroom and in the hallways as much as possible making appearances at their sporting events when I can and asking about them the next day if I wasn't able to make it. My life is pretty consumed by athletics whether I am coaching or spectating, but that takes up much of my free time!