Afterword: From Peer Mediation to the Classroom — Nick Reynolds's Firsthand Account

Summary written for this site

In a present-day afterword published with his age-17 book, Nick Reynolds describes serving as head of peer mediation for the Marple Newtown school administration, speaking with students who were intimidating or targeting others, and viewing that responsibility as standing up for the underdog. He recounts one confrontation in which he was spat on and struck, defended himself, and was suspended despite believing he had acted in self-defense. He also recalls learning afterward that an anonymous caller had contacted the other student's family, being questioned by a school administrator once the family contacted police, declining to identify anyone, and the other student transferring schools some time later — as he remembers it, with no claim that the call caused the transfer and no identification of the caller. He met Superintendent Bob Mesaros, explained his role as head of peer mediation, and as he remembers it worked the suspension day in the superintendent's office. Writing more than two decades later, he also recounts a further confrontation weeks afterward during Senior Week at the shore, giving a direct retrospective account of the force he used, and a vehicle breakdown on the drive home that he suspected at the time was retaliation — a suspicion he never established and that names no one. About four and a half years later he returned to thank him and was hired back into the district as the Paxon Hollow woodshop and technology-education teacher and as a defensive-line coach under Coach Gionta.

Short attributed excerpts

Excerpts are quoted briefly for attribution. The original article is never reproduced here.

Evidence status

• His role as head of peer mediation, the circumstances of the confrontation, the superintendent meeting and the handling of the suspension are Nick Reynolds's own firsthand recollection.
• The anonymous call to the other student's family, the questioning by a school administrator, the police contact and the student's later transfer are also his firsthand recollection, and he does not present them as causally connected or name the caller.
• The later Senior Week confrontation at the shore, the emergency response that followed, and the cut radiator hose and engine damage on the drive home are Nick Reynolds's retrospective firsthand account; he says he never established who cut the hose and names no culprit.
• Existing archive sources support his later educator and coaching role in the district where that is already documented; nothing here upgrades the rest of the afterword to verified.
• No external verification is claimed for the hiring or the discipline decision.