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Nick Oswald’s career within the UM System began at Missouri S&T where he worked in MinerTech at the bookstore. In that role, he supported students with their computer questions and challenges. Our Director of Curriculum and IT, Angie Hammons, first met him while working in this role, and she quickly recruited him for her EdTech group at Missouri S&T.
In 2019, Hammons was again able to bring Oswald back to her team, this time at Mizzou Academy.
As an instructional developer for Mizzou Academy, Oswald helps the team of designers with technology and curriculum integration.
Oswald’s educational background focuses on people and machines. After earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology, he went on to earn a master’s degree in human computer interaction. He uses this knowledge to help his fellow Mizzou Academy teammates learn new technologies, implement user design strategies, and optimize the student and teacher end user experience.
Nick Oswald, A Calm Approach to Technology Support
Oswald has a background in teaching programming fundamentals at both the high school and college level. We have called on that skillset as a backup support in our own computer science sequence.
Over the past 3.5 years, Oswald has also been vital in helping to build our new elementary program. This new program supported our local Boone county schools with online educational solutions during the COVID pandemic as well as standards-based curriculum for homeschool families, and it continues to have an important international impact with partner schools in South America and Asia.
Oswald helps maintain and integrate Mizzou Academy’s technology systems with steady, consistent support. Angie Hammons says, “Nick is so calm and patient. He never gets overly excited and helps you calmly deal with any problem that comes up. Nick is great at troubleshooting. He can come at a problem from different directions and really help you think through all possible solutions. He’s always willing to try anything!”
Executive Director Kathryn Fishman-Weaver also remarked on Oswald’s quiet work ethic. “There are things that have come together in the elementary program directly because of Nick’s work. Yet, unless you sought out his projects, you would never know it. Likewise, a few years ago we had a student who needed extra support in our advanced computer science course. Nick very quietly took her under his wing, and she finished AP Computer Science with top marks. Again, Nick never boasted or even seemed to celebrate these accomplishments. For him, it was just another day on the job.”
When he is not serving as an integral member of Mizzou Academy’s technology team, Oswald can be found playing tabletop games with friends, helping homeschool his daughters, or preparing for the next d20 game. He also serves as videographer and general technician for his eldest daughter’s Irish dance performance troupe.
At the recent Mizzou Academy team meeting, both Hammons and Fishman-Weaver were glad to make the time to mark Nick Oswald’s achievements publicly and celebrate all the great work he does for Mizzou Academy.
| Our recent team meeting included five milestone anniversary recognitions: Megan Lilien—5 years; Steven Turner—5 years; Nick Oswald—15 years; Angie Hammons—15 years; and Jacqueline Kay—20 years! Look for more celebration stories and staff features to come! |
| As part of our strategic planning process, the Mizzou Academy team has engaged in intentional work around articulating our core values. These values are partnership, innovation, access, and inclusion. Many of our web stories highlight these values. We are proud to share this staff spotlight on Nick Oswald for his work to advance innovation. | |
| Belief | We hold ourselves and our students to high standards as lifelong learners. |
| Guiding Question | How can we use continuous improvement to drive excellence? |
| Source: Mizzou Academy Core Values Document | |