“When I interviewed at Oakton, I went home and I was just like, ‘Wow, this is definitely where I would want to be,’” said Ms. Jesse Gershuny, a first-year Business and Information Technology teacher at Oakton High School. “Everyone is so friendly.” Oakton made a profound first impression on the 16 new teachers who were welcomed to the Cougar community for the 2025-26 school year.
These educators expressed a variety of motivations for pursuing a teaching career. “I think I’ve just always known, from even when I was four or five, that I wanted to be a teacher,” said Ms. Brianna Moreno, a new math teacher at Oakton. “As I got into high school, I realized, hey, actually, I really love math and it’s really fun, so why not teach math?” Ms. Moreno moved to Virginia after gaining her first classroom experience in Texas.
On the contrary, some of Oakton’s newest educators didn’t always intend to attain a degree in education. For example, Ms. Emily Frank, a first-year physics teacher, originally aimed to pursue a career in physics but later reconsidered: “I was a TA in grad school and I liked that more than the research I was doing…High school physics is where I started with it all.” Special education social studies teacher Mr. Michael Wemyss, likewise, started college “wanting to go into government…I still love government and history, and I really love teaching—let’s put the two together.”
Memorable role models also played a significant part in many teachers’ decisions to follow their chosen paths. Ms. Gershuny was inspired by her high school Intro to Business teacher’s experiential acumen. “What I really liked about my teacher is that he had industry experience,” she said. She comes to Oakton having previously worked as a career coach and admissions officer at Georgetown University, now bringing her own real-world wisdom to the next generation.
“In hindsight, you know, I think that it’s inspiring and kind of cool when people have that experience and come in and kind of tell students what’s possible.” Despite not having a specific high school teacher that stood out as particularly impactful, Mr. Jason Marsh, who also teaches Business and Information Technology, stated that he learned most from teachers and managers that he found approachable. Mr. Marsh intends to keep this philosophy in mind as he shares the knowledge of his 29-year financial career with students. “I want them to feel they can come and ask me any question they want…I want [them] to know that I’m here to help [them] succeed.”
Most widespread of all among new teachers’ opinions was praise of Oakton’s welcoming community. “I’ve never been this supported by any team that I’ve ever worked with before,” said Mr. Wemyss. “I don’t fear making a mistake. If I make a mistake, I know that people will be there to support me and correct me.” Similarly, Ms. Moreno’s favorite part about working at Oakton is the team of educators that she collaborates with. “My favorite part about Oakton is the math department. And I’m probably biased because I’m from the math department…but my team, especially my mentor Mr. Arneja, has been really good at helping me…The math team here has been so supportive.” In addition to describing the uplifting environment created by administration and other staff members as “very good for learning,” Mr. Marsh mentioned the students’ personable nature as another contributing factor to his positive experience at Oakton: “The students [are] phenomenal. Super friendly, very engaged, very warm and welcoming.” Overall, Oakton High School appears to have made an excellent impression on its newest staff members.
