Monsieur Nyland not only taught me to speak a beautiful language, he taught me that even in middle school teachers still cared. I was a lonely bussed student who arrived early each day. Mr. Nyland let me be his morning monitor and gave me purpose, connection, and responsibility. Suddenly instead of being displaced, I had a place to go and a reason to be there. I still have the copy of the Three Musketeers he gave me on my bookshelf. I can now admit that I never would have worked so hard to get good grades in French, but I didn't want to disappoint Mr. Nyland. I knew he believed in me. I knew all of my teachers at 77/93 believed in us. I know what best practices are in the classroom because they employed them everyday in my classes.
- Lorrie Ayers,
Former Student