The image of Louis CoConis is engraved in the memory of a generation of high school students in Alexandria, Virginia.
It's on the eighty-six. year-
A much younger old math teacher, dressed in a suit and covered in chalk.
In early 1970, the longest time in Alexandria --ever-
Working teacher Kokonis solved the algebraic and calculus equations on three blackboards in his Francis C.
Hammond High School classroom.
64-year-old Chris Barquin recalled that he worked from the front of the classroom and then moved to the blackboard fixed on the side wall and then filled the last slab behind.
The blackboard has replaced computers and calculators as part of the rules for grade books and slides, but CoConis remains a fixed asset for public schools in the city of Alexandria --
First Hammond, then T. C.
Williams High School, after ethnic integration in the area, the other three schools merged to become the only high school in the city.
Kokonis did not, as the 60-year-old teacher had expected at work, make an encouraging statement about the state of public education, nor did he preach advice to young educators, school system officials and former students celebrate a milestone online.
As far as CoConis is concerned, he found that the attention pressure has been very high recently.
"Sometimes, I want to forget it," he said in the classroom the last working day . ".
His style has never been full of energy.
Barquin, a retired civil engineer, recalls that when he taught, Kokonis had barely more voices than whispers.
Nevertheless, he won the respect of his students.
"This guy can teach directly," Barquin said . ".
"He's the best teacher I 've ever met at any level, anywhere.
Kokonis teaches algebra and geometry, but he likes calculus best because of its rigor.
He is attracted by the certainty of numbers and equations, and the answers to mathematical questions cannot remain open --ended.
"You have some work to do as an answer," he said . ".
"Getting the right answer is also an exciting thing.
Except for two people --
Kokonis has served in Germany for a year and has not gone far.
He moved to Washington at the age of six and graduated from Roosevelt High School in Northwest and Washington, DC. C.
Before the start of Alexandria in 1959, the Normal College.
Barry Havens, 72, a secondary math student, found Kokonis appealing to the subject's enthusiasm.
Havens recalled that the teacher was never angry with the students, but stayed behind after work to provide additional assistance.
"I was surprised that he was still teaching and, on the other hand, that didn't surprise me," Havens said . ".
"That's his life.
The six films in Kokonis have changed a lot. decade career.
If the material does not appear in a standardized or advanced placement test, it is unlikely that he will teach the material.
These days, he wrote the calculus equation on a smart board.
But the same is true of his daily life.
He still teaches five 90-
Small blocks for lunch and tutoring studentsa full-Time class load.
He spent three hours preparing before each class, reviewing his notes and solving his practice problems.
Burnout is never a problem.
Kokonis said that a daily walk in a nearby park would help, as would the sense of meaning and purpose he gained from teaching.
Kokonis, who has never been married or has children, has no retirement plan.
He provides pizza and donuts for students on weekends and after class
Anne Williams, a freshman at Ellon University in North Carolina, said the school's calculus review course this spring.
Williams, 18year-
Old, will make her soft
A calculus teacher with a problem.
"Unless you ask, he's an introvert and won't share much," Williams explains in her written memory shared with the school district.
In Kokonis's interest, "you usually like him if you're willing to listen and pay attention to it": pasta, Irish music and a movie with a happy ending.
He has a special love for Western films and Anne of Green Hills.
"The world is already tragic enough," Kokonis said . "
"I'm a little idealistic.
I like to see that everything is beautiful.
The 80-year-old also watched 2000 movies, remember Titan. C.
Williams Football Championship 1971 season
But most of the film is unfamiliar.
"When I watched this movie, I never remember any of them," Koconis said . ".
"I do my job here.