Nick Coddington teaches history in the Upper School.  “I think my favorite part of teaching at Charles Wright is being given the freedom to teach each student,” says Coddington.  “Small class sizes make learning a personal experience and create a unique student-teaching relationship.  Teachers really get to know each student and then mold the curriculum to fit their individual needs.  It is an atmosphere unique to CWA.”
 
“One day at lunch I was sitting outside watching my fourth grade son play football with his friends on the Upper School lawn.  Suddenly a group of varsity football players joined in.  Together all the kids played and laughed as they enjoyed just being kids,” recalls Coddington.  “It was at that moment that I realized what a special place CWA really is.  Where else could fourth graders and seniors play together unsupervised?  But then I thought, why shouldn’t they?  I think CWA is a very special place because it fosters relationships and responsibility.  It creates an atmosphere where students respect one another.  It is a place that is inclusive and everyone feels welcome.”
 
Prior to beginning his teaching career, Nick served as an officer in the US Army for more than 20 years.  His extensive experience working with humanitarian and relief operations involving the United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), non- governmental organizations and multiple countries in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and South West Asia seeded in him a passion to make the world a better, safer place.  "I believe we can all make the world a better place if we respond to the needs of those in our community and our world," he says.  
 
As a teacher, he wants his students to discover that humans are all basically the same.  In 2007 he was honored as the National Holocaust Educator of the Year for his work creating a unique curriculum on 20th century genocides that includes atrocities in Armenia, Russia, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur, as well as the Holocaust.  In 2008 he received the Spirit of Anne Frank Award.

In addition to teaching in the classroom, Coddington has helped coach youth football and guided student Winterim groups and trips to Poland.  He advises the school's National History Day competitors, Model UN team and Human Rights Club.  "National History Day is my favorite project to work on with students," he says.  "I like being part of the process where students stop doing the project for a grade and start working really hard on a project they love doing the research and learning about the topic they chose."

“Travel is the best way to learn,” says Coddington.  “I hope the stories of my travels inspire students to get out, explore and try new things.”  His adventures have included eating a gyro in Athens and tasting dates from a 2,000 year old tree in Baghdad.  He has sold sodas at the Indy 500 and hawked fruit at Pike Place Market.  He went scuba diving in Hawaii and watched the peloton go by during the Tour de France.  
 
Coddington graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point.  He holds three masters degrees from the Joint Military Intelligence College, St. Martin’s College and the University of Illinois.  He joined the faculty of Charles Wright in 2005.  He enjoys riding his BMW R1150 RS motorcycle, traveling by train, and playing ball with his Swiss mountain dog.  He once worked as a camp counselor at the International Boy Scout Camp in Kandersteg, Switzerland.

Visit his web page
Read his guest column in the News Tribune
Learn more about the program he has created at CWA to teach students about tolerance and justice
Read what the University of Illinois alumni magazine had to say about him
Read what the Spirit of Anne Frank Awards had to say about him
Read the blog entry about his Spirit of Anne Frank Award
Read the blog entry about his National Holocaust Educator of the Year award