SPOTLIGHTTAKINGShaker Heights City School DistrictMAC SCHOLARSTO THE FUTUREGET TO KNOW MR. REESEGrace Wilkinson Spotlight Editor52VOL. 91 ISSUE I
As I logged onto my Google Meetwith Mr. Reese, he greeted me infront of large, white cabinets and analarmingly green plant. Just as I waswondering where the money for suchan extravagant teacher office camefrom, he confessed he was trying out a virtual background,provided by Google.Before we got down to business, I learned somethingvery important about Reese. “I’m not a catperson,” he said. “Cats don’t seem like they aretrustworthy. They always look like they’re up tosomething. Do you have a cat?” When I reluctantlytold him I did, he told me “[I’d] better watch myback. Your cat’s gonna be like, ‘Yeah, I heard whatthat guy said.’ ”Nathaniel Reese, Jr. is the district MAC ScholarsCoordinator. From an early age, Reese’s parentsinstilled in him values that make him the leader heis today. “My father taught me a long time ago tobe able to speak to those people who are scrapingto get by, all the way through those who are billionaires,and everybody in between,” he said. Reese’s fatherworked for Ford, and his mother for J.C Penny.He grew up with an older brother and sister, Tonyand Marilyn. At Bedford Heights High School, heenjoyed playing basketball and running track.From Bedford High, Reese attended Kent StateUniversity and earned an undergraduate degree inrhetoric and communications. He then returned toKSU and earned a master’s degree in education.With two weeks left in his Bedford student-teachingterm, he got a call from Shaker. The district offeredhim a long-term 6th grade substitute positionat Woodbury Elementary School.To me, walking into a class of pre-teen kidshopped up on snack-bar treats sounds like a nightmare.Reese felt no such fear. “I try not to go intoany situation with preconceived notions or expectations,so I wasn’t overwhelmed. It was just a matterof getting used to having my own class,” Reesesaid. “And, I’m not saying I’m a perfectionist, but Ilike doing things correctly. I don’t like making mistakes.”Reese began teaching sixth grade math and scienceat Woodbury in 1997, and remained in that positionuntil 2018.As a teacher, Reese’s main focus was the children.“I try to make sure they are prepared for anythingto come their way. Although kids need to gothrough hardships and difficulty in order to preparethemselves for the world, there are times that I feelthat if you can make life a little easier for them,cool,” he said.Reese’s favorite part about teaching was findingout how he affected students, even in the smallestways. “You never know who’s watching, you know?So, students that come back and speak about a specificmoment that I looked out for them somehow,that was what I really loved,” Reese said.Reese’s care for students was especially evidentwhen he assumed the MAC Scholars position inSeptember 2018 after Mary Lynne McGovern retired.McGovern helped found the program morethan two decades ago. Reese had been with his finalclass at Woodbury for only three months before hecame to the high school. When it was time for himto leave, students and adults alike shed tears.Reese said he was surprised that students becameso attached to him so quickly. But, can youblame them? They were losing a teacher who woulddrop everything to help them out with a problem.Now, Reese works with the Office of DiversityEquity and Inclusion, the Family and CommunityEngagement Center, and the Bridges program.Though he enjoyed his time at Woodbury, he said heenjoys the more mature conversations he can nowhave with high school students. Reese helps studentsassess the fast-approaching adult future andget a sense of what they may want to do in life.“Even setting yourself up with goals you don’teven know you had,” said Reese,”because you mightget to graduation and you might decide: You knowwhat? I DO want to go to college, I DO want to dothis.”And with Mr. Reese by your side, it’s easy to feellike you can do just about anything.Spring 2021 THE SHAKERITE 53
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