Nikki Reed shares love of learning

Often, English teachers have the biggest impact on both our education and who we are as people.  

For students at Whitefish High School, one of those teachers is Nikki Reed, a long-time English teacher and librarian who will always shoot you a smile when you see her in the hallway.  

After this year, Reed will retire from her position at Whitefish after 29 total years in the district, with her first seven at the middle school and the remainder at the high school.  

Reed is originally from Denver, Colorado, and she and her father moved to Whitefish in her seventh-grade year. After graduating, she spent time living in Massachusetts, Colorado, and Missoula before moving back to the Flathead. She married her husband, Doug, in 1995 and together they have two children, Kendall and Townsend.  

In her free time, she enjoys dog walking, running on the Whitefish Trails, attending live music concerts, doing yoga and traveling.  

Reed was 24 when she decided to be a teacher after graduating from college with a degree in English.  

When asked what inspired her to become an educator, she primarily credited a high school English teacher named Jael Prezeau, who had a major influence on her love of learning that she still has today.  

Her teaching style is heavily motivated by Prezeau, in addition to her own curiosity, creativity and her desire to give students real-world experiences and connections within their schooling. She strives to show students the power of education and the power of words, while exposing them to art and encouraging them to love learning just as much as she does.  

A big part of her time at the high school was spent teaching English and science with Eric Sawtelle. With efforts in both areas of learning, she played a big role in the conception and execution of the WHS Center for Sustainability and Entrepreneurship (CSE).  

After the CSE was completed, she got her library certification and moved to library education, in addition to Pre-AP English 9 and Title English. She also became the main Poetry Out Loud coordinator and made the program more formal at WHS.  

This past year she ran the competition with Krysten Fitzsimmons, a previous Poetry Out Loud coordinator who took a position at Whitefish this school year. Poetry Out Loud gives Reed hope that through the memorization of words, students will develop a love of poetry. 

Reed believes that the most important things for students to learn in the classroom are how to think critically, communicate and have deep empathy and awareness for others and the natural world. Her biggest pieces of parting advice to students are to stay curious, read as much as possible and to take good care of one another.  

After retirement, she plans to work at The Farmer’s Stand and Voyageur Book Shop, and to travel.