Nayland College teacher Mark Lewers decided to join the police force when he was only 22 years old. He went through 2-3 years of training in Auckland, going from a probationary constable to a constable.

The science teacher has been teaching at Nayland since the start of last year. 

Mr Lewers lived in Wellington for 7 years working as a detective squad on the crime squad. Working 24/7, he was going from crime scene to crime scene dealing with serious crimes. Moving to Nelson meant he had to demote from being a detective to a constable.

Mr Lewers worked as a policeman in Nelson for a couple of years, before he decided it was time to do something different. "[He thought] if this is my life in Nelson it's not very fulfilling, I need to do something else," Mr Lewers said. 

Before entering the police force, he had studied at both Otago and Auckland university, spending a total of 5 years earning science degrees. With the inspiration from his wife, he decided to do a correspondence teaching course during his shift work in the police.

The former cop feels he's heading down the right track with his new career. "I really enjoy teaching people and I really enjoy the energy I got from seeing that they have learnt something (…) I found that when I did teach someone or a bunch of people I could do it in a way they understood. I did it in a clear form that made it easier for them to learn from me."

After being in the police force for 13 years, Mr Lewers found that he had gained skills that were well needed in order to be a good teacher for his students. Since his wife was a teacher as well, he knew everything he needed to know, all the good and bad things. "I knew exactly what I was getting into!" he joked.