Nicholas Bush is an educator who believes nothing counts more than character. A second-grade teacher at Wiley Elementary, Bush is determined to instill accountability, pride and good character in all of his students.

“Teaching students about good character has helped every other aspect of teaching,” said Bush. “No reward has been as great as finding out that there are better people developing before my eyes and that I have played some small part in that.”

Bush has also strived to reach every one of his students by finding ways to engage them in learning. “When you enter Mr. Bush’s classroom, students are actively engaged,” said Dr. LaToy Kennedy, principal. “Depending on the day, you may see students using various manipulatives in math, making models to represent the life cycle of the butterfly in science or taking a community walk around the school in order to write up an action plan to improve the school community in social studies.”

Because of his creativity and commitment during his first year teaching, Bush was named the Guilford County Schools Rookie Teacher of the Year for 2007-08. He was also named the Elementary Rookie Teacher of the Year.

Bush was up against four other finalists for the award, and received $500 and a scholarship worth $10,000 to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for a master’s degree. Matthew Rickard from Page High was named the Secondary Rookie Teacher of the Year and received $500. 
           
The other finalists included Jennifer Omran from Oak Hill Elementary, Clark Erskine from Alamance Elementary and Lorin Hooker from Southwest High. They received $100 each. The Guilford Education Alliance and BB&T sponsored the award.