He has taught sophomore English throughout his Badin experience and also crafted the Creative Writing and Introduction to Film classes at the co-ed high school in west Hamilton.
Last school year, he added two college credit senior English classes to his schedule, and this year is teaching four of those advanced courses along with the recent addition of two sophomore honors courses.
“There’s a lot of writing in the (college credit) curriculum, and I think one of my strong points is teaching writing. I’ve done a lot of it over the years,” said O’Hara.
“It’s been interesting. I’ve enjoyed having the most mature students in the school in my senior classes and seeing how they’ve grown over the last two years,” said the popular teacher, who earned his educational leadership doctorate degree from Miami a decade ago and has been teaching at the university for three decades.
He did his undergrad work at Rowan University in New Jersey and has two Master’s degrees from Miami.
O’Hara not only teaches writing but is also a man of letters himself.
A published poet, O’Hara is also actively involved in the Popular and American Culture Association (PACA). This year, he will present at two PACA regional events — in Atlantic City in November, and in Albuquerque in February.
And according to him, his advanced degrees “have helped me to understand and explain not just how to do something but why it’s being done to build a better society.”
“It’s the reason the English developed the public education system in the 18th century. The ‘why’ has been on my mind a lot lately – the different approaches to that.”
Badin Principal Patrick Keating said O’Hara both carries a passionate flame for writing and generously passes on that torch to his students.
Dubbed “Dr. O” by his colleagues and students, Keating said O’Hara “truly believes in education as the lighting of a fire — inspiring in students a deep love for reading, writing and literature.”
“Mark is always willing to start new classes and teach something new. He never shies away from a challenge. Dr. O is one of the people who has made Badin a destination high school in southwest Ohio.”
Asked what has been the biggest classroom transformation during his four decades in education — previously O’Hara taught at Union County High School in Liberty, Ind. — he replies: “The internet changed everything.”
“It’s been an incredibly valuable change in terms of email communications and being able to research. At the same time, it grabs your attention in unproductive ways. Cell phones just create endless distractions.”
Teaching has become tougher in some ways but is still worth it, he said.
“It’s a difficult profession because it demands so much more time than the public recognizes. But at the same time, it’s a very rewarding profession.”
“You’re interacting with young adults who are going to end up running the world. When they come back and give you feedback on what a positive impact your work has had, that’s obviously a good day.”
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