Shades of Green - Stephen T. Badin High School

Mark O’Hara makes students ‘curious learners’ and ‘freer citizens’
“At it’s very basic
level, education makes
someone a freer citizen.”
That’s the way Mark
O’Hara sees the value
of education, and the
veteran Badin English
teacher has been making
students “freer citizens”
for years.
“It’s really rewarding in
so many ways,’’ O’Hara
said of teaching. He’s in
his 14th year of teaching sophomore English at Badin, his
29th year of teaching overall. “You watch students become
curious learners. They pursue that curiosity, and they grow
and become more educated … and then they want to
know more about what’s out there.”
O’Hara himself is practicing what he preaches. He’s
working on his doctorate in Curriculum and Cultural
Studies through the Department of Educational Leadership
at Miami University. All that’s left at this point is to write his
doctoral dissertation.
“The classes for my doctorate have been a lot of work,’’
said O’Hara, 53. “But it’s good to know that I’m capable
of doing it at a school of Miami’s caliber. Being a student
myself has made me a better teacher.”
O’Hara concedes that he faces a basic challenge as an
English teacher.
“It’s hard to get students to read,’’ he said. “I know our
classes try to have a good balance between the classics and
contemporary books. One good strategy I’ve found is to
open up the opportunities for students to choose their own
books.
“Badin students do read a lot,” he added, “but you’d like
students to read more because they want to and not just
because it’s an assignment.”
O’Hara’s college concentration was creative writing, so
he enjoys teaching writing as well as poetry.
“That’s what I’m best at,’’ said O’Hara, who was involved
in the Ohio Writing Project at Miami and has also attended
numerous poetry workshops over the years. He is a
nationally published poet. “I’d like to restart the Ram
Review this year,’’ he said of the Badin poetry anthology.
“We haven’t done that in a few years, and it’s time to bring
it back.”
O’Hara has overseen the One Act plays at Badin
throughout his tenure, and earlier directed the musicals for
six years. He and his wife, Karen, are the parents of two
children, Billy ’03 and Kristin ‘06.
What’s changed over the years
“Technology, obviously,” O’Hara nodded. “It’s gotten
more prevalent and it’s easier to use. Our technology at
Badin is top of the line. It’s as good or better than any other
high school around.”
Yet some things remain the same.
“I still teach ‘The Great Gatsby’ every year,” he said of the
F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. “The students like it because they
find characters in the book that they recognize. It’s like a
soap opera – the plot is suspenseful and action-packed. For
our students, it’s relatable to today’s world.”
O’Hara, who graduated from Catholic high school in New
Jersey, wanted his children to also benefit from a Catholic
education … and it just so happened that there were English
teaching openings at BHS at the same time. It has worked out
well.
“I plan to stay at Badin for several more years, though I’d
like to find a position in a university before I retire,’’ he said.
“Maybe I’ll put a book out on language arts in a high school
curriculum. There is a lot that can be said about that.”
In the meantime, he’s happy to be teaching at Badin.
“Badin is an outstanding school,’’ he said. “I’m proud to
have taught several Badin grads who themselves are now
teachers.”
trio of winners
Badin seniors Michael Kulifay (left) and Michael Lakomy (right)
joined veteran physics and calculus teacher Mr. Mark Merz as
major award winners in the fall. Both Kulifay and Lakomy were
named Commended Students in the 2013 National Merit
Scholarship competition. Lakomy also earned the Honda/Ohio
State Partnership math medal, while Merz was nominated as an
Educator of the Year by the University of Chicago, based on a
recommendation by 2012 BHS valedictorian Christina Dong.
Kulifay is considering Miami University to major in accounting or
financial management, while Lakomy’s No.1 choice is Ohio State
for political science and economics.
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
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