Coach Amber Nasson (back row, left) with her quiz bowl team.

Teacher Tuesday: LHS’s Amber Nasson, destined to teach.

Teacher Tuesday is a presentation of Metalworks, a small, family-run company with facilities located in Ludington and Manistee, manufacturing metal office filing systems. Be sure to show your support by liking the Metalworks Facebook page.

By Kate Krieger, MCP Staff Writer.

LUDINGTON – Always having a passion for reading and history, at a young age Ludington High School teacher, Amber Nasson knew she wanted to be a teacher.

“I used to play ‘Little House on the Prairie’ with my sisters when I was little,” she said. “I liked to pretend that I was the teacher in a one room schoolhouse. I also have always had a passion for reading, learning, and history, so teaching seemed like a natural choice.”

Nasson has been teaching for 18 years. She was a 1997 graduate of Manistee High School and then attended Alma College and graduated with a teaching degree in 2001.

“I started teaching at Kaleva Norman Dickson School District where I taught high school for six years,” she said. “Then moved to Ludington where I have taught high school social studies for 12 years. I have held the same position. I teach civics, economics, psychology and world history.”

After a few years of teaching, Nasson returned to Grand Valley University for graduate school. She then transferred to Ferris State University to finish her master’s degree in 2010.

Along with teaching full time, Nasson also coaches the varsity quiz bowl team at Ludington, taking the team all the way to the state championships in the 2018-2019 school year, where it took first place.

“I love my Quiz Bowl team and was really sad that our state tournament was cancelled this year,” she said. “The team had a successful season and we didn’t get to end it the way we had hoped.”

Building relationships with students, Nasson said is her favorite part of teaching. She said she learns as much from her students as they do from her.

“The students are absolutely my favorite thing,” she said. “I love interacting with so many diverse personalities and hearing their thoughts and opinions. I love holding classroom discussions and simulations, and it’s awesome to watch students dig into new ideas and share their observations.”

Nasson does have a few things she isn’t as fond of when it comes to education as well, especially when it comes to funding.

“I wish that Michigan funded education more equitably,” she said. “Some school districts receive a lot more money per pupil than others because of legislation from the early 90s. We need to rethink how we fund our schools so that all Michigan students receive the support they need and deserve.”

For those who are looking at education as a possible career, Nasson has some word of advice. “It’s a wonderful and rewarding profession but get into the classroom early to be sure it’s the right fit for you,” she said. “Enroll in the Educator Academy while in high school and job shadow/interview teachers and other school personnel to explore all options in education. I’ve seen so many college students learn at the end of their college experience that they really don’t like being in the classroom.”

During the third trimester of the most recent school year, Nasson, along with all other teachers in Michigan had to turn to distance learning thanks to the coronavirus outbreak. Since working so personally with students made Nasson’s job so exciting, it was quite a change for her to switch over to not seeing her students every day in the classroom.

“I was so sad that I didn’t get to see my students face-to-face third trimester,” she said. “Interacting with my class is what makes teaching so rewarding. It was also very challenging transitioning to 100% online. It was a lot of hard work, but I learned a lot from it.”

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