The McNicholas Milestone

By Maeve Rice

To kick off this school year, McNicholas High School welcomed seven new teachers.  

Mr. Dan Bellum is the new Latin teacher. In June, when Mr. Paul Romolo became the principal, the Latin position needed to be filled, and Bellum joined the faculty. He attended La Cueva High School in New Mexico, and later, Bellum studied at the University of New Mexico for his bachelor’s degree and the University of California for his master’s degree. He has been teaching for 17 years and teaching high school exclusively for 11 years. Bellum has mainly been a Latin teacher but has also had experience in teaching English, Spanish, and ancient history. Last year, Bellum worked as staff at Central State University, and before that he worked at Pacifica Christian High School in Orange County, CA. “I moved to Ohio because my wife got hired as a professor at Wilmington College, and I came to McNick because it seemed like a great school with a good community around it.” He also was drawn to McNick due to the size, and “a real sense of community.” Bellum hopes to have a positive impact on his students, and although he teaches in the convent, anyone who sees him around campus will most likely see an “Ito En” green tea with him. 

Mr. Nick Bohlen, one of the new intervention specialists in the SAIL department, has been teaching for 12 years. He taught math for nine years at Taft High School and was an intervention specialist at Woodward and Withrow High School for three years. Bohlen was in the class of 1999 at Moeller High School and attended the University of Cincinnati for college. He was working as an engineer at a small factory but then changed career paths and started working in Cincinnati Public Schools for 12 years after. “Always value your relationships, and value your education, even in areas you think you’ll never use,” Bohlen said as his advice to students of McNick. 

Ms. Mary Cavanaugh, one of McNick’s newest English teachers. is going into her second year of teaching. Her first year of student teaching was half in Mexico and then the other half at Ignite in Boone County, Kentucky. “While I was in Querétaro, Mexico, the school was called Institute of Thomas Jefferson, and they offered me a contract the following school year 2024-2025, my first year after I graduated college,” Cavanaugh said. Cavanaugh is not the first family member working at McNicholas High School; her dad, Mr. William Cavanaugh, and her godmother, Mrs. Val Combs, also work at McNick, both in the SAIL department as intervention specialists. She expressed that working with her family is “so much fun!” Cavanaugh, a graduate of NKU, wants the students at McNick to know that “four years goes by fast, so don’t worry about your social life, and just have fun.”  

“Life is unpredictable, and you may end up in situations or crossing paths with people that you never thought you would.” -Mr. Nick Bohlen, SAIL intervention specialist  

Mr. Robert Cornwell is another addition to the English department. He is in his third year of teaching, but prior to that he served in the Air Force for three years. He said he wanted to be a teacher because his mom has been teaching sixth to eighth grade Language Arts for 27 years. Cornwell attended St. John’s Jesuit in Toldeo for high school, which he described was “much like St. X,” and then graduated from UC. He said he was drawn to McNick due to the “high academics,” he also admired the faith-based retreats, including Kairos, Appalachia, and Damascus. He hopes for “students to get more excited about reading” during his time at McNick.  

Mr. Craig Reeder has joined the math department as the new Algebra and Geometry teacher. He is entering his twelfth-year teaching. Reeder has previously taught at Immaculate Heart of Mary and Cardinal Pacelli teaching “mostly math but sometimes science” to fifth through eighth grade students. He went to high school at Purcell Marian and for college he attended the University of Dayton. Much like Cornwell, Reeder’s dad was a high school biology teacher, so he followed in his footsteps. If he was not a teacher, Reeder said he would be “a manager at an auto repair shop,” where he also has family members working in that field.  

Mrs. Ingrid Sabla, joined the World Languages department and has been teaching for over 20 years. She grew up in Puerto Rico where she attended a private high school. Many of her previous students from St. Veronica moved on to McNicholas, which is one reason she decided to teach at McNick as well as hearing great things about the school. Her mom told her she used to “teach her stuffed animals” when she was little, and she has always loved teaching others. Her biggest goal while teaching at McNick is to “strengthen bilingual education and multi-cultural appreciation in a challenging but nurturing academic environment.”  

Th final addition to the McNicholas faculty is Mr. Nick Terry, a new teacher in the business department. He attended Colerain High School and then Mt. St. Joseph University. This will be his second-year teaching but before this he was a business consultant who traveled around the country. But once he had kids, he said the traveling atmosphere wasn’t for him, so he decided to join his brother and start teaching. Rockets might recognize him around school because of his twin brother, Mr. Chris Terry, who is McNick’s Facility Manager. Terry mentioned how this “family affair” has caused confusion with not only students but also with coworkers.  He was drawn to McNick not only because of his brother, but because it is a catholic high school. This was important to him because he is catholic, and he previously worked at the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. He hopes to “build a competitive business program” during his time at McNick.  

 -MR-