This year, Oviedo High School has a couple new teachers with ranging experience and backgrounds that are continuously bringing character to the school.

In the math department, Matthew Hueston, a new algebra and geometry teacher, worked at Indian Trails Middle School for a year before coming to OHS. He considers the difference in teaching the different age groups to be prevalent, with a calmer demeanor being present amongst high schoolers.

“Middle schoolers can be more excited because they’re still like little babies,” Hueston said. “Excited, but they’re also crazy. For high schoolers, [there is] so much better behavior.” 

Hueston also went to Oviedo High School, so it has been an enjoyable experience for him to rejoin OHS’ community.

“I’ve lived in Oviedo most of my life and I know the community, so it’s Oviedo compared to the other schools I’ve worked at. [It’s] so much better now,” Hueston said.

Jordan Orlewicz, a new physics teacher, corresponds with Hueston’s positive opinion of OHS. 

“You hear about Oviedo all the time,” Orlewicz said. “So it’s like, why does everyone love Oviedo? I need to check this out.”

Over these past years, the city has grown as a hotspot in Central Florida. Families from all around the country have moved to this little town. Its ratings and schools have always scored top marks, and the community is tight knit. 

Hueston, a former and current resident of Oviedo, can vouch for the pull towards OHS.

“Oviedo High School is truly the number one school in Seminole County,” Hueston said. “Truly, teachers fight to be here.”

It seems that the reputation of OHS exceeds town borders. Marie Oyler, a new counselor on the guidance team, came to the school after four years at Lake Howell High School. She shares a similarly positive view of OHS.

“Oviedo has a good reputation in the community as being a high achieving school so that intrigued me,” Oyler said.

It’s been a couple of weeks since these teachers joined the OHS staff – enough time to form opinions about working at the school. They shared the same presumptions about the community’s incredible spirit.

Right off the bat, the students’ hard-working personalities have shone through, coming to Oyler’s attention. 

“I feel like the students can really bring it and they’re excited to be here,” Oyler said.

The students bring their best because of the supportive, familial culture at Oviedo High School. When new teachers arrive, they can really get a taste of that. Coming to such a positively tight-knit school, the teachers can bring their best and feel at ease because of their new-found environment. This has created a win-win relationship that has kept this culture at Oviedo High School.

“I do think that Oviedo does have a family aspect, you can see it and you can sense it, and that’s what all teachers want,” Orlewicz said.

However, this doesn’t mean that the first day can’t still be frightening. 

Similar to many students during their first day, Orlewicz was also nervous on his first day. But after some time it became a part of his new normal, as it does for many. Eventually, it reaches the point where life isn’t so stressful anymore.

“When I got here, it felt really big and scary, right? But now it just feels like something special,” Orlewicz said. 

Perhaps that’s why OHS’ community is so welcoming to companionship. The teachers and families that come to Oviedo are fighting their hardest to provide a life for themselves where they can prosper. They can vouch for what that feels like.

The teachers that seek out this sense of community seem to be the ones that strongly desire to connect with their students. To change the education dynamic in order to prepare today’s youth into adults that they count on.

Orlewicz supports this idea, prioritizing getting students out of the desks and stale classrooms while being hands on with the course material. 

“What inspired me to become a teacher was [that] there was a disconnect between teacher and student,” Orlewicz said. 

Comparing Orlewicz’s high school experiences with those of students’ today is what solidified his teaching methods. He wants to get personal in order to build that trust, which for many teens is a ticket to passing.

Ample trust provides room for passing advice on to a younger counterpart. The teachers that fought to be at OHS want to provide all the tools needed to set their students up for success, while still creating genuine and impactful connections with them.