This new school year has brought many changes to Oakton High School such as the new phone policy, the new bathroom pass system, and the most important change, the new teachers. Due to the shortage of teachers in FCPS this year, Oakton High School has hired about 25 new teachers. One of these newly hired teachers is Mr. Kavjian, a Chemistry teacher.

Life before teaching and previous teaching experience

Mr. Kavjian attended college at Penn State University and studied secondary education. His intention in going to college was to become a teacher, “so you could say I’m living the dream right now.” Before coming to Oakton, he spent four years at Woodbridge Senior High School and one year at Robinson Secondary School. He has enjoyed his time teaching at those schools, however, he feels very good about Oakton, so much as saying, “Oakton is the best so far.”

Time at Oakton so far

Mr. Kavjian has been enjoying his first months at Oakton because, “The teachers are all pretty cool, the students are 99% fantastic, and the school is obviously very nice.” He believes Oakton is run in a different way than Robinson Secondary School was, “it was challenging to do things [at the school he previously worked at] in a way that was beneficial to the students because of policies that were in place.” However, Woodbridge had a similar infrastructure to Oakton, “similar in the way that the community operates.” These previous experiences let him appreciate Oakton’s infrastructure and understand how it operates.

Student opinions 

Mr. Kavjian teaches both 10th grade chemistry and chemistry honors classes. His favorite part of teaching is, “making connections with my students, getting to know their lives outside of school, and making school semi more enjoyable for them.” Mr. Kavjian’s students have many positive things to say about him, even though we are only a few weeks into the school year. One of those students is Devum Agarwal, a 10th grader in Mr. Kavjian’s second period chemistry honors class. Devum likes Mr. Kavjian’s energy, and his sarcastic sense of humor that he often shares with his classes. Devum also enjoys Mr. Kavijian’s teaching style because, “he makes everything interesting, by integrating his energy and humor into his lessons.”

Hobbies and Interests

In his free time,  Mr. Kavjian likes to go out to eat with his wife, play board games, play video games, hang out in various locations, and spend time with friends. He occasionally likes to play soccer to stay active. 

Advice for students

Mr. Kavjian believes students can sometimes get wrapped up in the madness of high school, but he says in the long run the drama and madness isn’t something that is often looked back on. He encourages students to try to have fun in his class. A motto he often carries around his classes is, “fun first, chemistry second.”