"One day I decided to wear a tie to school and I thought, 'Well, if I wear the same one over and over, it gets boring,'" recalled Nelson, "So I just started collecting them, and it grew into where I had a different one for every day of the school year."

And his collection is still growing. In fact, a second grader gave him a tie at lunch just Tuesday.

"I keep them in under the bed storage boxes," he explained, "So I take out what I need for the week or so, then when I wear those, I put them in a box of ties that I've worn. And then we rotate them that way."

The kids say they love his ties, but couldn't count how many he has.

"Oh gosh," thought Hunter Mouse, a student. "Ten or 20," he guessed.

Even the school secretary can't wait to see what tie he's wearing.

"He's got a wooden sectional tie that I like a lot," said school secretary and accountant B.J. McKenzie. "And I like the one that's like the Operation game."

Nelson has cartoon ties, holiday ties, sports ties and food ties, but says his favorites are the shaped ones.

He has 336 ties total: that's one for every day of the year, if you don't count Saturdays. He has so many Christmas ties that he starts wearing them the day after Thanksgiving break, and doesn't stop until after Christmas.

The school staff said it adds something fun to every day at Midland Elementary.

"It's great to know that we're in education, but we can still have fun," said McKenzie. "We're not just limited to the serious part."

Nelson said this is the first time he's displayed his ties like this, so the kids are having a blast getting to see them all. He said his wife would eventually like to make a quilt out of them.