A different kind of service: Two veterans turn to classroom
Published 12:00 am Friday, November 11, 2022
J.C. Alexander
J.C. Alexander, left, during his days in the Air Force.
Mark Nicholson
Mark Nicholson, left, in Afghanistan
Mark Nicholson in Fallujah, Iraq
SALISBURY — Reassimilating into society after serving active duty can be challenging, but two local veterans have found their civilian-life callings in the classroom.
J.C. Alexander is the business teacher and associate head baseball coach at Jesse C. Carson High School in China Grove.
Alexander spent nearly 13 years in the U.S. Air Force. He comes from a long line of veterans. His father served in the Air Force, and his grandfather in the Army Air Corps. During his service, Alexander worked as an aircraft armament systems technician.
“I loaded all bombs and missiles and worked on the weapon systems of F-16s and F-15s,” Alexander said.
Alexander got a business degree from the G.I. Bill and decided to put it to use.
“I’m very passionate about teaching life lessons,” Alexander said. “Having been able to travel around the world like I did for 13 years, it gave me an opportunity to share my experiences.
“In the military, you deal with people from all walks of life. And that’s what’s the beauty about the military because, you know, nobody really thinks about the divisions or anything like that. They just go out there and do a common goal for a job. And that’s what I try to preach to them is, sometimes you don’t always work with people that you like, but you have to work towards that common goal.”
Helping students grow into young adults propels Alexander daily in his role as an educator and makes him eager to see those students take their next steps.
“I look forward to the day that they walk across that stage and graduate,” Alexander said.
Alexander has not always been at J. C. Carson High.
“I taught business at Erwin (Middle) for a year,” Alexander said. “Then I got hired on as a career development coordinator at the central office and oversaw the south side of the county high schools. I did that for roughly four years. And then one day, I just decided I wanted to be back in the classroom.”
It’s been nothing short of worth it so far for Alexander.
“Seeing them have those a-ha moments and learning about what is going to help them take their next step in life makes it worthwhile,” Alexander said.
A new challenge
Lieutenant Colonel Mark Nicholson became an English teacher at West Rowan High earlier this year, but he served in the Marine Corps for two decades.
Nicholson is a native of Winston-Salem. He earned an English and secondary education degree from Appalachian State University in 2001.
He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps through the Platoon Leaders Class in May 2001. He climbed the ranks and eventually held an important position.
“I was the person who was deciding where Marines would make their next move,” Nicholson said. “It was a huge responsibility when I realized that with three clicks of the mouse, I could take an officer and have orders cut for them to go from Camp Lejeune to Okinawa, Japan. It became very clear that I had a big responsibility, making sure I sent the right person at the right time to the right place.”
According to Nicholson, he made a “difficult” decision when retiring from the Marine Corps, but he did so because he felt it was in his family’s best interest. However, what he found in civilian life proved to be a rewarding challenge in and of itself.
“Many of my peers went into higher level positions with Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Chewy and Lowe’s (Home Improvement), but I decided that I wanted to do something that provided a challenge that was similar to the challenges I faced in the Marine Corps,” Nicholson said.
He took a temporary job as a substitute teacher in March. West Rowan High was the first one that had an opening and was close to his home.
“I fell in love with the high school here, the administration, and the students,” Nicholson said.
Nicholson mentioned to administrators that if anything became available, he wanted to take it.
“It wasn’t long that they said, hey, we have a position,” Nicholson said.
“I wanted something that was a challenge. I spent 20 years feeling like I made a difference for our nation, and I decided that after that, I wanted to make a difference in young people’s lives, and it led me to the classroom.”
Now, he’s doing just that.
