Nick Tyler went to work Nov. 1 as athletic director for the Boys and Girls Club of Sweet Home.
Tyler was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy on Sept. 1 as a gunner’s mate.
The 1997 Sweet Home High School graduate joined the Navy in 1997. He was stationed in Norfolk, Va., and served aboard the USS Anzio.
Program Director Bob Teter explained how Tyler ended up applying for the position.
Tyler’s wife, Rachel (Ahola) Tyler, also a 1997 graduate of SHHS, was interviewing for the job.
“She’s interviewing for this job,” Teter said. “In the middle of the process, she jumps up and says Nick would be perfect for this.”
She withdrew from the selection process, went home and told Mr. Tyler about the job. He applied and was hired.
“I want to teach high school and be a coach,” Tyler said. He will dual-enroll in Linn-Benton Community College and Oregon State University then transfer to OSU full time in education.
Mrs. Tyler is attending OSU.
“I did a lot of volunteer work out there (Virginia) at Chesterfield Academy,” Tyler said. It was a low-income elementary school.
He worked there twice a week in a type of mentorship program his ship was involved with. The students there were from broken homes and one-parent families. They didn’t have many male role models.
Tyler and his shipmates would help with homework, play sports and work on computers with students.
They did “a lot of stuff that dads should be doing but weren’t there for whatever reasons,” Tyler said. In Palma, Spain, he also volunteered at an orphanage, playing with kids, landscaping and helping put up a barn.
“I like dealing with kids,” Tyler said. “They challenge you. I had some adults in my life that helped me. It’s nice to be in that place now to help kids. Things are going pretty good. I’m learning.
Among his goals, Tyler would “like to get more kids in the club, more kids involved in the sports program.”
The job isn’t quite what Tyler had envisioned.
“I expected it to be kind of like (SHHS Athletic Director) Larry Johnson’s job, setting up athletic events, dealing with leagues, Boys and Girls clubs,” Tyler said. “But it’s been more one-on-one with the kids. It was unexpected, a big plus. It was kind of neat.”
Tyler plans to earn his teaching certificate, possibly teaching history.
Mrs. Tyler is working for the Boys and Girls Club through the after-school program.
“I’m glad to be back in Sweet Home,” Mr. Tyler said. “It was nice to get away for awhile to the big city. To come back to Sweet Home was a blessing. My wife and I missed it a lot.”
They enjoy the small-town atmosphere, driving down the street and having people wave, he said.