Sterling educators find purpose – and each other - on path to becoming teachers

Two Sterling Public School employees found their love for teaching and for each other through higher education.

Nolan Baker is a social studies teacher at Sterling High School and also serves as its head wrestling coach. He started teaching at SHS three years ago after moving back to the area from Colorado Springs.

Baker was a two-time state wrestling champion in high school, earning him a spot at Northern Illinois University to wrestle at the Division 1 level. Unfortunately, his success was short-lived.

“I got my butt kicked there,” Baker said. “I thought it was the end of my wrestling career. But then I tried a different style, Greco-Roman wrestling, which is one of the ones in the Olympics, and I won a World Team spot. I got a new life in my wrestling career and was invited to go live at the Olympic training center for a few years, which is what brought me to Colorado Springs.”

Baker continued his education at Colorado Springs University, where he met his wife and fellow SHS teacher, Zhane Baker, when the two were taking summer classes over Zoom with about 50 other people.

“At the end of the classes, they randomly assigned you to a high school and a middle school, and we ended up being in a group of about five people that just happened to be sent to the same schools,” Nolan said. “So, it was truly by random chance that we ended up going to the same in-person school together. After that, it was just a matter of when can I build up the courage to ask her out?”

The pair quickly hit it off and soon became inseparable. After finishing school, they started planning their future, eventually finding the perfect opportunity.

“Being from around Byron, I knew there were some good places and the cost of living is more affordable,” Nolan said. “So, we started looking for where we could land jobs within driving distance of each other, when there happened to be double positions opening at Sterling. I knew Sterling had beautiful facilities, and I’d wrestled there a few times, so we gave it a shot, and it ended up working out.”

Zhane is an advanced placement English teacher at SHS. She said that despite other educators pushing her toward teaching early in life, she was not initially receptive to the idea until she served as a tutor in college.

“I used to tutor a lot of subjects, and through that, I began to recognize this is a strength I have, and I genuinely enjoy watching and helping people achieve a goal, especially through education,” Zhane said. “What draws me to English is when I went into college, I realized how much being able to communicate was a benefit to me, and I figured, if that could be such a successful path for me, why shouldn’t I pursue transferring that knowledge and passion to other people?”

Zhane uses that passion to help students push through the rigors of an advanced placement course, which she believes helps them in the rest of their studies.

“If you choose to take an AP English class, you’re signing up for a lot of writing and speaking and putting yourself out there. I think that can only make you a better communicator,” Zhane said. “Proficiency in English essentially helps you in all your other subjects.”

For Nolan, history provided an outlet to satisfy his endless curiosity at a young age. However, he said that he quickly figured out that the more he learned, the more he had to accept that he would never know everything, “but you can always know more.”

“With history, there are so many human experiences that have taken place at so many different places in the world, there’s truly no end to what you can introduce a kid to,” Nolan said. “As a wrestling coach, it’s a lot of repetition and getting good at one thing at a time, but if you have me as a history teacher, I’m throwing something new at you every day.”