Teacher surprised with $50,000 excellence award

Nic Fullington is providing the same tutelage he received at Grafton High School that landed him back at his alma mater.

It’s that focus, he said, that separates his automotive program apart from others.

“Students,” he said. “It’s student driven.”

That drive earned Fullington a special honor on Tuesday. He received one of 25 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools prizes for teaching excellence. The $50,000 award is split into $35,000 for the autos program and $15,000 for Fullington.

Grafton High surprised Fullington with the award at an all-school assembly.

Fullington had been waiting for the announcement of the program’s results after completing a rigorous application process while balancing teaching, preparing his students for a national auto competition in which Grafton historically does well and coaching track in spring.

He kept asking Principal Scott Mantei if he heard anything. Mantei kept saying Fullington would be the first person he told as soon as winners were announced.

“I seriously talked to him yesterday at 2 o’clock,” Fullington said.

Mantei knew for weeks. Fullington’s mother Valerie was told on Monday night.

“I’m excited. I’m really happy for him. He worked so hard for this,” she said.

Fullington competed among 1,001 applicants across 49 states and is one of five Wisconsin winners.

The application, he said, was geared more toward being an educator than to the autos program. In addition to answering questions, he had to make a video of what sets his program apart.

“It was very challenging,” Fullington said.

He said he plans to use his money to upgrade his tool box.

“I don’t update tools at home. I borrow this stuff,” he said.

It was a teacher-turned colleague who got Fullington interested in technical education — Kevin Gain, who last year was named Technical Education Teacher of the Year by the Wisconsin Technology Education Association.

Fullington served as Gain’s teaching assistant in high school.

“I loved helping kids out,” he said.

When it was time to carve out his own career, Fullington wanted to be a tool-and-die maker. But when he took the tour of Kapco Metal Stamping he knew.

“I said I can’t do it. I cannot be in a building 24/7 where I don’t see sunlight,” he said.

Fullington was set up for a two-year program after high school, but his tech ed teachers and guidance counselor reworked plans so he could attend the University of Wisconsin-Stout to teach tech end. He started at Milwaukee Area Technical College before transferring, then came back to Grafton to student teach under his former mentor and autos legend Carl Hader.

When Hader retired five years ago, Fullington was hired to take his place.

“I found my home. Home again, I guess you could say,” Fullington said.

Now, he said, the gratification of teaching makes the work worthwhile.

“It’s a ton of time but it’s so rewarding to see kids from freshman year to senior year just being able to work independently by themselves on a vehicle,” he said, “when they came in as a freshman and didn’t know up from down or left from right.”

Grafton High, he said, is not like some schools that offer one autos class known for being an easy A.

“That’s not what we’re about. We’re about promoting industry real-life experience,” Fullington said.

He knows not all of his students will pursue the skilled trades but said it’s still important to learn.

“I don’t care what you do, people have to fix things. A homeowner, you’re not going to have an AI fixing plumbing,” he said. “Skilled trades isn’t going to go away and we have to promote that and I’m lucky enough to be here where we promote skills.”

Senior Nathan Meyer, a student in Fullington’s systems repair class, can vouch for Fullington’s dedication.

“I like that he gets around to help all the groups. He’s a sociable teacher. You can connect with him on a lot of things,” he said.