WOODBURY – For Nonnewaug faculty member Mike Sturges, the daily routine is familiar. First, a scenic drive through Woodbury’s pastoral landscape for a 7 a.m. arrival to campus. Then, a brisk walk from the parking lot into the building. But, instead of meeting up with friends or doing laps around the hallway before the opening bell, Sturges is headed to class to prepare for the day ahead as a veteran member of NHS’ history department.
For many Nonnewaug High School faculty, they mirror the same routine – with some exceptions- from their time as a student at Nonnewaug.
As of the 2024-2025 school year, 23 NHS alumni have returned as teachers or staff.
This most certainly isn’t the case at every school, so why is it that many of Nonnewaug’s alumni feel the pull to return back to the community? Well, the answer isn’t as straightforward as it might seem.
Deep Roots in Community
Toby Denman, one of Nonnewaug’s longest tenured faculty, who has seen countless alumni return, thinks that it could’ve been by chance, or rather, Nonnewaug’s close community attracting graduates back.
“It might be as simple as, it’s just where they got hired,” Denman said. “But also I think this is a pretty good place to teach, learn, go to school — or all of the above. We have a pretty good community, and I think people that went to school here recognize that, and want to be part of it.”
Mykal Kuslis, second year principal at Nonnewaug, notes the positive school culture captivates teachers back to their roots.
“It’s a great school, it’s not a huge school, so the sense of community is really strong here,” says Kuslis. “I think that people that come here and have the experience are really positive. When you become a teacher, oftentimes you want to go back to a place that’s comfortable or a place you knew, so I do think that once you have that great experience it does make it easier.”
In fact, Sturges, a history teacher and 1998 graduate, thinks that returning to teach as an alumni strengthens one’s foundation.
“I think it helps to really deepen roots in a place,” said Sturges who went on to study history at UConn prior to returning to NHS nearly 15 years ago. “You always have home, and this was going to be it for me. Deepening your roots in your hometown – that is satisfying.”
For returning alumni, although the name on the building remains the same, the school has grown into a dramatically better place.
“It’s been improving steadily for years,” said Sturges said regarding NHS’ precipitous climb up the state’s academic rankings. Entering fall of ’24, NHS had climbed inside the state’s top third of the Accountability Index, a rating that examines a variety of factors in assigning a school’s overall success. “So I can say without reservation, it is a head and shoulders better high school than when I went here. That’s true of our facilities, that’s true of teaching, it’s true of the lessons and the education which has overall gotten better. That’s very encouraging to see; you don’t really get the opportunity to watch something like that, and shift your role in that process.”
Nick Sheikh, a science instructor and class of 1998 graduate, came back to teach and coach after an opportunity arose.
“I had an interest in teaching and an opportunity presented itself at the time,” said Sheikh whose initially calling was to the medical field. “I was out of college and deliberating med school or teaching and it ended up being two completely different lifestyles, but I come from a family of teachers. I had a good experience here as well as students that came through here that returned to teaching here. So the opportunity presented itself, and I have been doing it since- coaching and teaching.”
Maybe it’s a desire to give back to where we come from, or maybe it’s most practical, but for NHS’ many alumni, returning to campus is fueled by a combination of reasons.
Arleigh Duff, a 1989 graduate, returned back to Nonnewaug as a paraeducator where he’s also been NHS’ cross country and track coach of 34 years. Duff was presented with a job opening to be a cross country coach in 1993, which he took. His decision to take that position led to his profession in special education.
Duff finds that Nonnewaug has a strong connection, especially between the sports teams.
“For that reason, because it feels like a community, it feels like a family,” said Duff who has accrued numerous state titles during his coaching reign. “I feel like I want all the kids to succeed on all the teams and we all like to support each other. I like that, I think that the coaches support the other programs and the kids support the other programs, so that’s a big thing.”
Life Abroad and Experiences Brought Home
We should come from adventures, and perils, and discoveries every day with new experience and character. -Henry David Thoreau
Although returning to campus is something that many faculty and staff have done, for most, the time between graduation and returning as a professional has been colored by life experiences, time spent in other school districts, and for some, time spent exploring the globe.
For faculty like Jane Caruso, traveling the world, and returning back hasn’t just given her life experience, but rather it’s provided a wealth of topics she weaves into her courses. Caruso is one of many faculty who relish the opportunity to bring this knowledge–and experience–back to 5 Minortown Road.
“I taught English to 3rd and 5th graders in Mexico,” said Caruso, who is now a longtime member of the Foreign Language Department. “They were younger kids, but it started my interest in teaching. It was a totally different experience, but it definitely got me on the path of wanting to teach. Before that I had no interest in it at all to be honest. I didn’t go to school for teaching until I came back to the United States. I did it backwards. So when I came home from living in Mexico after seven years, that’s when I enrolled in college, and that’s when I took all my classes for Spanish and all my classes for teaching.”
Across the many academic departments, many include instructors who have returned from experiences that enrich the professional craft, traveling and working in distant places abroad.
“Teaching overseas is something I weave into my courses here,” said Conor Gereg of the NHS English department. Gereg, like Caruso, returned to NHS following experiences working abroad. Gereg uses his time teaching in Budapest, Hungary to enrich his classes. “The world feels a little bit smaller with experiences like that, and it’s rewarding bringing that back to NHS. It’s special to have lived a life so distant from home and open students to a world that’s outside of Nonnewaug. We get comfortable in our small bubble of the world, but it’s exciting to remind my students there’s so much out there to be experienced.”
After returning back to the U.S. from Mexico, Caruso found herself drawn back to the place where her passion for education began.
“It feels like home,” said Caruso. “I’m proud to be here, and it feels good because I did come back home. I’ll tell you what was weird, when there were teachers I had as a student here, they were still here, and then all of the sudden now I’m calling them by first name. That was strange. You do it, you make the transition, but in the beginning it’s a little quirky. I think we are a tight-knit group. It’s more personal. There’s a sense of pride in it.”
A Connection Forged on NHS’ Campus
Following NHS’ most recent building renovation completed in 2022, campus’ footprint was modernized, bringing Nonnewaug’s learning spaces into the 21st century. Despite its transformation, graduates who have returned to find something familiar amid the changes: a connection to where their passion all began when they were students.
Jesse Hungerford, a class of 2016 graduate, found her passion for agriscience while she was a student in the program, and was ultimately attracted back to the school as an agriscience teacher for its uniqueness and Woodbury FFA’s national distinction.
“I discovered that I wanted to be an agriscience teacher while I was a student in the agriscience program at Nonnewaug,” said Hungerford. “During my time here as a student, Nonnewaug provided me with numerous experiences that shaped me into the adult I am today. The opportunities that are consistently offered at Nonnewaug year after year may seem normal to us; however, in actuality they are very rare and unique opportunities specific to our school community.”
For faculty like Hungerford, exposure to other schools and programs makes one thing clear: Nonnewaug is a destination and a place many desire to teach at.
“I have taught at several other schools, and I can assure you that what we offer at Nonnewaug is a student experience like no other,” says Hungerford. “Our school is truly one-of-a-kind.”
For each teacher, there is a different reason for what brought them back, but all of them conclusively agree that Nonnewaug has a rare, special sense of community, making it an exceptional place to be.
“Everybody supports each other,” said Sheikh. “Community, school, teachers, it’s all woven into the fiber of Nonnewaug, and it’s not the same for a lot of other places but [Nonnewaug] has a special community here.”
