Throughout all of his 23 years of teaching, Mr. Andy Nester has instilled a sense of morality into the students of Kearsley High School.

He welcomes students into his class with his Duck-Eagle speech and inspiring quotes he chooses for his classes every day of the school year.

However, if you had spoken to Nester back when he was a senior in high school, he would have told you one thing: he’s never going to be a teacher.

“I remember I had a high school teacher who I was close with who suggested my senior year I take up teaching as a career,” Nester said. “I remember laughing and thinking what a funny thought that would be.”

Nester, a U.S. civics teacher, originally wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was at one time the chief civil engineer of the city of Flint.

However, as he would tell his students one day, engineering just was not a career he had an interest in. He changed his classes at Michigan State University from engineering to pre-medicine.

“It makes a lot of money, and people think highly of doctors,” Nester said.

But Nester would find out quickly that medicine was not his type of career. When he was exposed to a human cadaver for the first time, he fainted. He quickly switched out of pre-medicine and pursued public affair and policy studies at James Madison College.

At James Madison College, Nester heard the same suggestions to consider teaching. He finally gave in and switched all of his credits to a social studies major.

His interest stuck and he graduated with his degree and began looking for a job as a teacher.

Through this, Nester slowly learned to persevere and push forward like an eagle, as he would tell his classes.

Around 1993, Nester struggled to find a job. He found that there was a job opening for a social studies teacher at LakeVille High School.

“There were 500 applicants for this job,” Nester said.

Nester got the job. A few years later, he applied for a job at KHS and was hired on the spot.

“It was pure fate,” Nester said.

Nester lives with his wife and three children on Lake Fenton.

Nester also coaches the boys’ golf team.

With his experiences and his growing family, Nester has made a point to try and spread good habits and uphold his values as a teacher, father, and churchgoer with his students.

He understands that most students in his class do not care for subjects like government, but he still makes it enjoyable and relatable for them.

Nester has also used his life experiences and stories to connect with students in any way he can, to better themselves, making him a favorite among many of his students, including junior Alyssa Caudle.

“Mr. Nester is, honestly, my favorite teacher,” Caudle said.  “He’s always reminding me of how important everything is, even the little things. He makes you realize that life is what you make of it. You determine whether it is going to be a good or bad day by the way you choose to perceive and deal with the things.”

Nester’s method of teaching gets to students compared to other teachers. He makes them listen, and listen well.

His thought-provoking quotes of the day always start a conversation with at least one student in one of his classes. To him, it shows that at least one student is impacted by what he teaches and that someone is listening.

Students have noted the care he takes in his class to prep students for assignments and SAT practice, reflecting off of what he has learned as a teacher.

Junior Katelyn Dunn also noted this.

“He (Nester) teaches his class like he is supposed to, but also really cares about his students,” Dunn said. “He takes the time to make reading guides for us, and he really enforces the quote of the day.”

The quote of the day is a quote Nester chooses every day from the first day of school to the last.

The quotes are always something relevant to him and his students, so he can get them into the learning mood.

Even students who have not had his class yet are excited to have Nester, just because of what he does as a teacher and how he does it.

Brianna Messer, junior, has Nester’s civics class this semester.

“I think I’m going to enjoy Nester’s class because of all the great things I’ve heard about him,” Messer said. “Nester always seems like he’s in a good mood, and I feel like his class will be one that I can really learn from and enjoy.”

And for the students who do not have an interest in government, Nester has one thing to say to his students.

“Use every subject as a tool, no matter how much you hate any subject,” Nester said. “Life doesn’t always turn out the way you think it will.”