Teacher honored

MONTROSE  — Montrose High School teacher Mike Nadiak’s 20 years of teaching could never really prepare him for what he saw on Nov. 11. However, his deliberate response saved the life of a young female student. On Monday, he was honored for that response.

At 8 a.m. on Nov. 11, MHS junior Mallory Haulman was assaulted with a knife as she walked into the high school with her sister. Mallory’s throat was cut from behind and she sustained serious damage to her throat muscles and veins, according to earlier reports by the Daily Press.

Nadiak, who was getting ready for a normal day as a high school science teacher, heard the screams and rushed to the scene.

He saw Mallory bleeding and students standing nearby in shock. He rushed up and put his hands on the wound, and guided the teen into the nearby nurse’s office. They placed Mallory on a cot and applied gauze bandages until emergency medical personnel arrived, which was within minutes.

“It was a reaction and I attribute that to the requirement that the first aid recertification agencies have for recertification. There is a reason why you practice and get recertified,” he said.

Nadiak has been an outdoor enthusiast even longer than he’s been a teacher. During that time, he’s lost people close to him through mountaineering accidents and his first aid training has been tested.

He’s been certified for 30 years and he’s also found it helpful as a soccer coach.

“So, that is a message. That’s something I hope people take out of this. It’s a good idea to invest a little time,” Nadiak said.

The school district does provide salary credits for first aid training, he said.

On Monday, his colleagues, along with Chief of Police Tom Chinn and Colorado Commissioner of Education Dwight Jones, stood and applauded Nadiak as he received two different awards.

Jones presented Nadiak with the “Teacher as a Hero Award.”

“It’s one thing when a student is assaulted and certainly that is a tough pill to swallow when we’ve worked hard to create the right kinds of environments in our communities and in our schools. And sometimes it’s hard to explain it,” Jones told school district staff Monday during an in-service at the Montrose Pavilion. “By doing what came naturally, but by doing that, he saved a life and certainly affected this community, and the whole state.”

Chinn also presented Nadiak with a “Life Saving Award,” which is awarded to citizens for heroic acts.

The incident hasn’t changed Nadiak’s outlook as a teacher. He believes there is a lot of effort going into making schools a safe place to teach and learn, and the incident hasn’t deterred his confidence in that.

Nadiak said he has not been distracted from his main mission of being a good teacher, connecting with kids and helping them develop into good citizens.

As a teacher and parent of two boys, a freshman and a seventh-grader, Nadiak said that he still believes the school is the safest place for a child.

Contact Kati O’Hare via e-mail at katio@montrosepress.com