Mr. Nunez, former Mount Carmel teacher and dean, moved to Texas after the 2018-19 school year to accept the position of Assistant Dean and assistant football coach at Strake Jesuit High School, Houston. The opportunity allowed Nunez to return to his home state and be close to family.

Mount Carmel junior Duke Allen spoke for many when he noted that Nunez’s departure was a loss for MC.

“I miss him. (Nunez) was always a good influence around me. I felt like I was being taught something everyday.”

Nunez was the 2017-18 recipient of the Green Jacket Award, given to a teacher or faculty member in  memory of Mr. Kevin Hansen.

Hansen was a legendary Mount Carmel teacher who exemplified every aspect of being a “Carmel man” perfectly. Hansen passed away during spring break of 2016 due to a rapidly developing cancer, leaving the students and faculty members shocked. In order to win this award, one must exemplify every aspect of being a “Carmel man” just as  Hansen did.

As a freshman, I had the honor to be a part of Nunez’s final year of teaching theology before he became a dean. A very intelligent man, Nunez always kept every student on their feet with interesting questions that always kept us, the students, thinking.

As a dean, Nunez took his position very seriously, and made sure every student was staying out of trouble and obeying the guidelines.

Nunez drove me and a few others to school every morning for my first two years at MC. Throughout those years, I learned one thing: you can never debate against Nunez. Talking about all kinds of topics, from the NBA to politics, all led to one thing – he knew way more than you. He was so good at persuading you to understand his position, that at a certain point, you had to throw in the towel.

Recently, I was able to get back in touch with Mr. Nunez and catch up on his new life in Texas.

In Texas right now, many are trying to recover from Tropical Storm Imelda. This storm has given Texas 40 inches of rain. Imelda has caused five deaths so far, and has damaged 10,000 vehicles.

While he and his family have not been affected, he is learning how much it affects others.

“It floods all the time, but people around here prepare for flooding in similar ways that people of Chicago prepare for a big snowstorm. Luckily the place where I am living was not majorly affected, so we didn’t lose anything. But it is crazy to see the effects of flooding on the people of my school.”

Even as he adjusts to a new job and home, he recalls his time at Mount Carmel fondly.

“I loved my time at MC. It was such a wonderful experience for me in helping me develop my pedagogy/mission. There will always be a special place in my heart for MC, especially for all my boys.”

And even though he has only been gone for a few months, he misses Mount Carmel.

“I’ve been wanting to come back to visit, but each opportunity falls through. I do plan on coming back at some point and visiting everyone. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.”