After thirty influential years at Brookfield Central High School, Mr. Nelsen is retiring. He has spent his entire career teaching midrange and upper-level math. Mr. Nelsen specifically excels in helping every and any student comprehend math skills regardless of their previous knowledge, which has proved to be vital as students continue their math careers. Due to this, Mr. Nelsen specifically enjoys teaching Honors Algebra 2 which he calls, “the meat and potatoes of math,” as well as the “doorway to upper level math.” Mr. Nelsen’s influence does not stop there. Outside of the classroom, Mr. Nelsen is known for his dedication and passion having also been a mentor and active member of the school community.
Mr. Nelsen, it seems, has always had a knack for teaching. While he was in the army, he started taking classes at a local college. People started coming down to his dorm room and asking him for help in – no surprise – math! “Well this is pretty easy – I kind of like this!” Mr Nelsen shared. At the same time, he ended up being a player coach on the football team and found that he also enjoyed coaching. When he returned to University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, he was able to major in education and math.
We interviewed Mr. Nelsen on a Thursday morning before school. Mr. Nelsen is no stranger to spending this time with students – he can always be found arriving at school early whether it is to provide students with extra help in math or to advise a Key Club meeting. During Mr. Nelsen’s time at Brookfield Central, he shares that he has specifically enjoyed all the connections that he has been able to make with not just the students, but the whole families. In his thirty years at BC, Mr. Nelsen has the opportunities to have siblings, cousins, and neighbors all come through his classroom. By doing extracurriculars outside of just math, he says that these
connections have only been strengthened. “I never just wanted to be the math guy in the corner.” Mr. Nelsen shares. True to his word, Mr. Nelsen has been actively involved in various school activities, including a long-term commitment to coaching BC basketball, fifteen years of coaching BC football, previously advising Student Council, and being an advisor of Key Club. Mr. Nelsens involvement in the BC Community, he believes, has also made him a better coach and mentor. “It made me a part of the fabric at BC,” he says. “I wasn’t just punching in at 8 am and leaving at 3:30 pm.” This made Mr. Nelsen truly understand how busy his students’ lives are. This understanding allowed him to hold his students accountable and to a higher standard by acknowledging that they all are busy – but school still comes first. He says that this would have been a much harder conversation with his students had he not been so involved himself. His dedication to both academics and extracurriculars has made him a beloved figure at Brookfield Central.
His advice to a new teacher? To just “embrace the grind!” There is a common misconception that teachers have it easy since they have summers off but this is far from the truth. “Now I enjoy the summers, don’t get me wrong. But when I’m in, I’m IN. And we are
going to do this and we are going to go hard,” Mr. Nelsen tells us. If a young teacher can understand that, they will be successful. And true to his previous statement, his other piece of advice is to, “be involved!”
In Mr. Nelsens retirement, as many of us relate too, he is most looking forward to “not being driven by the bell.” As he leaves, Mr. Nelsen wants future students and teachers to remember the importance of showing up and putting in the work. We believe we speak for all of BC when we can say that we have been taught well enough by Mr. Nelsen that we will do
exactly that! “Thank you for the great run,” are his parting words after 30 great years at Brookfield Central.
