Care that Sparks Greatness

“First, I was a fan, then a student, then a graduate, then a coach, and now a teacher—in that order. The joke in my family is that I never really left Prep,” says Vin O’Hara ’01, who currently teaches English and social studies at Prep and led the Prep hockey team to a state title in his first year as head coach. 

 

Before joining the hockey staff as an assistant coach in 2014 and succeeding Matt Sather ’93 as head coach in 2022, O’Hara won two championships as a player under freshly hired Coach Sather. It’s Sather whom O’Hara credits with giving him the opportunity to grow and pushing him to lead.

 

Freshman year, it was a rush to come to school every day for O’Hara. But he wasn’t doing well academically, and his only inspiration was making good enough grades to play hockey. Then—after 10 years of school—the individual care and attention of one of O’Hara’s math teachers at Prep uncovered the fact that he had dyslexia and attention differences. This was a liberating discovery for O’Hara, who began making significant progress as he learned strategies to overcome his challenges. “I improved with the help of some of the most gracious people I’ve ever met,” says O’Hara. “They lit an academic fire in me because they could see talent—or at least they made me feel like they did. And I appreciated it.”

 

“The most critical part of the experience at Prep is the commitment to teaching the whole person that’s felt in the halls, the cafeteria, the nurse’s office, the rink, and certainly in the classroom,” O’Hara asserts. 

 

After graduating from Prep, O’Hara earned a B.A. in psychology from Fairfield University in 2007 and set out on a path in neuropsychology research until the economy tanked soon after, and he pivoted to teaching. When a humanities position opened up at Prep in 2021, it wasn’t even a question for O’Hara.

 

“It felt like going home,” he says. “The true inspiration was that I had the opportunity to give back to a place that gave me so much and to provide the unique experience that I had to future Prep students. My experience with my teachers was exceptional. They were these giants of personality. They were funny and brilliant. When we went into their classrooms, we entered a different world. The opportunity to add to that legacy was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

 

As a Prep teacher, O’Hara had a spectacular experience in JEA learning the Ignatian teaching paradigm, which he believes made him a better teacher and could benefit every adult connected with the school. Now, he’s working on an M.A. in teaching and foundations at Fairfield University. 

 

From the other side of the classroom, O’Hara now sees how school leadership shapes teachers and the school culture. “Prep’s leadership right now is incredibly inspiring,” O’Hara asserts. “It makes me, as an alum, a teacher, and a coach, feel like we’re in good hands. When they need to provide critical feedback, I know they genuinely care for me, the students, and the school. Because of that mutual respect, constructive criticism is taken and implemented. You want to impress leadership who cares. You want to be part of what’s making the institution stronger.”