Dual Enrollment Instructor Celebrates 63 Years In the Classroom

The 2021-22 school year has marked two momentous anniversaries for one of our NOVA Dual Enrollment teachers, Mr. Louis Kokonis. On April 1, 2022, the Alexandria High School math instructor celebrated both his 90th birthday and his 63rd year of teaching in the ACHS district. This milestone makes Louis the longest tenured educator in the school’s remarkable history. Beginning his career in 1959, Mr. Kokonis taught during the 1970 integration of Alexandria schools, the consolidation of high schools in the district to a single high school for grades 11 and 12, its storied 1971 football season featured in the movie “Remember the Titans,” and the move from chalkboards to smart boards in the 2000s.

Although Mr. Kokonis has been a witness to many important moments in ACHS history, he is a humble man, who has nothing but positive things to say about the teaching profession and the impact of the Dual Enrollment program on his students’ success. Alumni who have stayed in touch with this longtime educator often thank him for the mathematical skills that he imparted on his students of all learning levels.  

The impact of his work with students within the Alexandria community continues to be felt across our region. The Louis Kokonis Scholarship provides support to ACHS students every year. His efforts to make complex math concepts accessible to every student and passion for teaching are so profound that in 2019 the Virginia State House put forth Resolution 727, celebrating Mr. Kokonis’ 60th teaching anniversary. The document highlights his impact on generations of former students who have gone on to positively impact society, to include “physicists, engineers, doctors and professors.” Even members of our NOVA Dual Enrollment team have once sat in Louis’ classroom and fondly remember his intelligence and patience for one and all. Our colleague recalled that in her Pre-Calculus class during the 1979 – 1980 school year, “he was kind and courteous to all students – be they at the top of the class – or struggling with new concepts.  To this day, when I hear of tangents, cotangents, sines or cosines, I remember him with a smile.” It is this kind of impact on his community that has Mr. Kokonis preparing for his 64th year as a teacher at Alexandria City High School and the Dual Enrollment program is excited to continue supporting his work as a DE math instructor for years to come.

Submitted by:
Robin Stewart, Dual Enrollment Coord., ROStewart@nvcc.edu