This school year the Eagles welcomed a familiar face back into the school as an official part of the staff, Kevin Suarez. Suarez was a frequent substitute at both Harding Charter Preparatory High School and Independence Charter Middle School last year.

“I felt more comfortable in the classroom setting after subbing,” Suarez said. “It helped me get a preview of how the real thing would look like and I was fortunate to be hired at the school I worked at the most, which gave me more confidence in knowing how the system worked.” 

Suarez was born in California but moved to Oklahoma after his brother was born when he was about 3. He resided in Midwest City through his childhood. He attended Bishop McGuinness High School where he participated in band and Varsity Soccer. His favorite class from high school was German but he appreciated his English teacher the most.

“He was very realistic and gave the honesty I needed to prepare myself for college and scholarships. He also helped steer me towards the right group of friends that would push me further,” Suarez said. 

Suarez most embarrassing memory went all the way back to his high school soccer days.

“I was playing goalie and I let in a silly goal where my defender passed it to me and the ball went between my legs!”  

Growing up he had only one odd job, for many summers he worked at a summer camp taking care of little kids while he was only 14-15.

“I was a kid taking care of other kids, taking full responsibility for them,” Suarez said.  

His experiences at OU were important to him. Suarez said, “I came from an environment where diversity was rare, so going to college with different people helped me learn from them and change my perspective.”

He appreciates the university for all it gave him, when asked about his regrets from college the only thing he mentioned was not studying abroad. 

Suarez is a teacher who loves animals. He has two of his own happy companions at home, a cat named Zuko and a beta fish named Loki. He also spends a lot of time with his parents’ dogs.  

He is happy with teaching full-time right now, but has big plans for the future. He hopes in ten years to be working from home with a big house, land, and a wife and kids.