From taking on the title of the creator of the ACC robotics team, an engineering teacher, a mentor… Mr. Nystrom is a well-known name at Arlington Tech and the Career Center. Although he was born in the U.S., his roots trace back to Sweden. His parents eventually found their way to Missouri, where he was born. Mr. Nystrom has had an eventful life, and he thanks his wife for that. Despite his long history of teaching, he doesn’t share much about his life with his students, so we wanted this Teacher Feature to answer some of our burning questions.
What Made Him Want To Pursue a Career in Engineering?
When Mr. Nystrom was in his younger years of high school, he was good at math. It came naturally to him. Math problems were easy to solve, and he never struggled with complex equations. He also had a passion for disassembling objects and thought the idea of fixing things was fascinating. He knew from an early age that he wanted to do something with mechanical engineering.
What College Did He Go To?
Mr. Nystrom attended the University of Wyoming, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. He then continued his education at the University of Southern Maine. Quite recently, he earned his master’s in Civil Engineering at George Mason University.
What Brought Ms. Nystrom To Arlington Tech?
Mr. Nystrom was living in Maine when his wife got a job offer in Arlington. After finding a job listing, he had a phone interview with Ms. Chung. Arlington Tech is full of diversity. The fact drew him into the school. Two days later, he was offered a job. They moved down here together, and he started his journey at Arlington Tech.
What Is Your Favorite Part About Working Here?
Mr Nystrom’s favorite part of working here is that he can step out of his room and see diversity (PEP students, ELI students, CTE kids from different schools, children from Early Parenting). He feels that the school environment here makes him less judgmental, more relaxed, and open to surprises.
Do You Like What You Do? What Would You Change?
In his 26 years of teaching, Mr. Nystrom stated he wouldn’t change much about his career. The only major thing he would change is the level of classes he teaches. A few years ago, he was teaching AP Calculus for seniors. “I like watching them grow and [seeing] how far they’ll be able to go in life.” His work with the school’s engineering and robotics students definitely gives a chance to work with kids for years.
What Made You Decide to Become the Robotics Coach?
At his last school, he was a shop teacher. One day, a chemistry teacher walked by and said he was coaching the Lego robotics team at a nearby middle school. As the students would soon be coming to the high school next year, he proposed the idea of starting an FRC robotics club so they could continue. Mr. Nystrom’s response to this was “Why wait until next year?”
After coming to Tech, which is in a fairly wealthy district and also a CTE school, he decided there was no better place to start an FRC team than here. The KoiBots, the 8230th team to register in FRC, is still going strong. This year marks Mr. Nystrom’s 11th year in FRC, an exciting milestone in his career.
Do You Have Any Unspoken Interests?
One thing that Mr. Nystrom likes to do is go biking. After he graduated from college, he biked halfway across the country. He also used to repurpose old bathrooms and houses. He got into this because he and his wife used to live in old homes, some of which were up to 500 years old, and needed refurnishing.
Do You Have Any Pets?
Mr. Nystrom is “definitely a dog person”. Over the course of his life, he’s had around 18 dogs. Right now, he has three. Joy, Cabat, and Rocky.
What’s the Best Thing You’ve Done?
He thinks that the best thing he’s done in his life was marrying his wife. He loves her a lot and remarks that she set the course of his life. He proposed because the Air Force wanted to send him to Alaska, and they got married because they didn’t want to deal with long distance. They have been married for 25 years and live in Arlington with their dogs.
Egg Challenge
We can owe a lot of this year’s first day activity to Mr. Nystrom’s behind-the-scenes work. Mr. Darragh wanted something more exciting than newspaper costumes–something that would fit the Arlington Tech way–for the start of the school year, so he went to the Engineering department for ideas. Mr. Nystrom planned out the details for the egg challenge. He said his inspiration came from TikTok, where he saw a Red Bull video of racing off ramps and decided to model that with eggs.
Throughout his life, Mr. Nystrom has discovered numerous and different hobbies, from biking to fixing houses. Mr. Nystrom is so much more than an engineering teacher. He’s a robotics coach, a former math teacher, an engineer, a dog owner, a loving husband, and a silly guy. Just look at the photo gallery for proof.
