John Rick, Marshall Middle School
Algebra Teacher
John Rick once heard a comedian say that in high school, his algebra class and algebra teacher were his worst nightmare. Mr. Rick has vowed to his students that he won’t be that nightmare algebra teacher.

Teaching algebra and geometry at Thurgood Marshall Middle School, John uses skills from his first life as a civil engineer to make math and algebra relevant to his students. Now, in his second career, he has reached the top of his field as San Diego Unified School District’s Middle School Teacher of the Year.

“I believe in the power of activities that bring all students to the same starting block with any lesson,” he said. “I also believe in ending a lesson with a project that helps to answer the age-old question, When am I ever going to use this?”

Like many in mid-career, John lost his sense of purpose with his former job. But after a series of tutoring sessions with a neighborhood child, the light bulb went on.

“I got to the point in my career where I was spending most of my time on personnel issues and not on design,” he said about his days as a civil engineer. “The more I tutored, the more I realized the satisfaction of teaching. I consider myself lucky to have found my true calling in life.”

Now ten years into his second career as a teacher, John wants others to know the value of the profession.

“There is a vast untapped resource of young professionals in their early years of a career wondering if there isn’t more to life than an eight-by-eight cubicle and a boss who doesn’t appreciate him,” he said. “I would like to see us tap into that resource, to entice people with the experience and energy to become the next generation of teachers.”

He promotes the teaching profession, hoping that these young converts can learn, as he did, that it is “a step up to the most noble of professions.”

Perhaps John’s memory of that comedian’s nightmare has inspired him to keep things light in his class. One of his students, eighth-grader Kristina Tabar, wrote a letter in support of his nomination as Teacher of the Year.

“Mr. Rick makes learning enjoyable,” she wrote. “It could be the way he teaches, or it could be the way we have fun in class… but I think it’s the way he does both at once. With all the stress at school, it feels good to go to a class where you know you will laugh.”

John earned his B.S. in Mathematics from National University, his Single Subject Credential in Mathematics from USIU, and his Masters in Education in Mathematics from Walden University.