Nicolet Loses a Well-Loved Phy Ed Teacher

After 14 years in the , head football coach and physical education teacher Brian Sommers will be leaving for a new job at the

His reason has nothing to do with the job. Rather, Sommers was worried about whether he would have a position at next school year and decided not to take any chances.

The financially strapped district is putting a that calls for raising the state-imposed revenue cap by $2.15 million in each of the next five years.

The School Board will formally vote on approving the language for that referendum question tonight, but even if voters approve it, cuts are still going to be needed at Nicolet.

Jeff Dellutri, director of business services at Nicolet, said that there is no definitive answer as to whether Sommers would have lost his job or not pending the referendum, but one could conclude it was a possibility.

"If you are a teacher here, you you see declining enrollment," Dellutri said. He also added that Sommers had the lowest seniority in the physical education department, even with 14 years.

Sommers has decided to dodge that possible bullet by taking a more secure position at USM.

"It’s a guaranteed situation for my family and I," Sommers said of his new position. "I had to jump."

A fellow physical education and health teacher, Steve Bazelon, was even willing to look at early retirement to save Sommers' job.

But after looking into the finances, Bazelon said it just wasn't going to work out. The question probing his mind is whether Nicolet will get another physical education teacher after Sommers leaves - even if the referendum passes.

"It's like giving a kidney to someone," Bazelon said. "If it worked out, I would have done it. I hate to see Nicolet in this position."

But Sommers says he understands. "It was very comforting to know that Steve was willing to at least explore the opportunity of retirement," he said.

After speaking with his union representative at Nicolet, Sommers was told that he likely would be laid off, so he began to look for something more stable, and he found an opening at USM.

"My biggest disappointment is I don’t get to see through with the kids I got to work with last year on the football team," said Sommers, who finished his first season as head coach. "Everyone’s been really good to me for the last 14 years. I’ve just fallen victim to the numbers game."

USM Athletic Director Rick Johns said school officials are very excited to have Sommers take the position as a physical education teacher and head football coach.

“Brian has an exceptional background as a teacher and a coach,” Johns said. “He has over 20 years of coaching experience and a lot of them are in the very best programs in the North Shore area: Homestead, Whitefish Bay. He was at Carroll College. And recently he just beat long odds and Mother Nature to lead the Nicolet program to a great season. All of that was very compelling for us.

“Once you meet him, you will quickly find he’s just boundless in enthusiasm for both physical education for all of our athletic programs and really his passion for young people and their education and their joy of movement is clearly evident," Johns added.

Even students say that Sommers is a great teacher, at least according to the comments on a popular teacher rating website called Rate My Teacher.

"Someone get this man a statue and put it in front of the building. Sommers rocks. Some day his signature in my yearbook will be worth millions," said one anonymous poster. "By far the best teacher, he makes things easy to understand with well placed humor and an interesting teaching style."

Another anonymous student added: "Best gym teacher I've ever had!"