WORKING OUT WITH

JOHN NIESZ

Athlete, coach, leader, the schools superintendent uses his powers for good

By Diana Schwaeble

Photos by Victor M. Rodriguez

It would be hard to miss John Niesz. He’s a tall, strapping man, who doesn’t need the pigskin in his hand to convince me that he’s a former footballer. On a recent winter afternoon, Niesz agreed to meet me at Veterans Stadium while doing the workout of his choice. A lineman in college, Niesz thinks it will be a good idea to throw the ball to me.

After some laughs and realizing that I am no match for his skills on the fi eld, Niesz makes a quick call and gets a few of Bayonne High School’s best football players down to the fi eld. Two seniors answer the call, Danny Mcauliffe and Amin Mimouali. Watching them play, I realize not only do the players know that this is a great thing to be doing in the middle of the day; they know who the superintendent is, and they genuinely like him.

Fortuitous Football

the fi eld as the team was practicing. He’s easygoing and affable, but more important to the team, he looks like he’s having just as much fun on the fi eld as they are.

Going to school events is a priority for Niesz. “I’ve been to plays, baking competitions, choir—all that stuff,” Niesz says. “Every kid is different, and every kid just wants to have fun and have a purpose, you know?”

Hearing Niesz tell his own story is a little like watching a game highlight. You see the moments that changed the outcome, but not the nail-biting angst on the sidelines when the other team is ahead—those moments when it wasn’t clear if your team was going to win.

He discloses almost as an aside that he was formerly a police offi cer and left because of an injury. It’s only later that he says his neck was broken after he was T-boned in a car crash while on duty. Most would tell that story with a moderate amount of drama. But Niesz doesn’t feel sorry for himself.

A Day in the Life Niesz has a lot in common with some of the students he mentors. While executing a few plays on the fi eld, he was completely

focused on the moment. How many adults can manage that for even fi ve minutes?

“It’s really easy, have fun with what you do,” Niesz says. “I know that’s like a cliché. Dick Vitale says if you have energy, enthusiasm, and excitement—those three E’s—you’re going to be the happiest person in the world. It’s 100 percent true.” Niesz’s enthusiasm is palpable as he invokes the famed basketball sportscaster. Niesz’s day begins at 5 a.m. when he walks his dog. Then he returns to his home garage, which he’s converted into a gym. He works out on an Elliptical, rower, treadmill, and rack system—exercises required to maintain mobility of the spine. Before his injury, he was a competitive cyclist. He hasn’t been on a bike since 2001, because he can’t look over his right shoulder to see oncoming cars. He acknowledges that not cycling is the worst part of the injury but adds philosophically, “It is what it is.”

After he left the Freehold Police Department, he worked for Homeland Security. Then he got his teacher’s certifi cate and began teaching law enforcement. Later, he went back to school for a certifi cate in administration.

“Being in sports, being in the police department, and being a teacher, it’s all about being on a team,” Niesz says. “We have one purpose, and that purpose is to get everyone a great education.”

Policing and teaching have other similarities: Protect and serve. Motivate and inspire. Niesz’s mission is to motivate. In his words, he wants the students to win. When he was assistant vice principal at St. John Vianney High School, he got the baseball team to the state championship. “I would take the baseball team out for batting practice during school,” Niesz said. “I don’t know who does that. You don’t think all the kids were looking out the window thinking, I want to do that? The team won the State Championship. Winning is fun and losing stinks.”

A Winning District

Niesz plans to apply that same practical wisdom to the issues that need fi xing in Bayonne. “We are going to do a district wide accreditation of all schools,” he says. “We believe in constantly improving. Getting the resources we need to improve our facilities. We have great facilities, but they are aging, and we need to work on our infrastructure. I’m just here doing my part that my predecessors worked really hard on.”

As Niesz walks the hallways, fellow footballers wave with looks of pure admiration.

“We just signed an agreement with an organization that’s going to provide free afterschool meals for all of our students here in Bayonne,” Niesz says. “They’re going to have a meal before doing their afterschool sports or activities. So instead of eating junk, it’s nutrition. It’s having structure and encouragement.”

He adds, “Come back in about a year when we have many banners hanging here for state championships because all you have to do is get to one kid, and it breeds itself.”—BLP