ALEXANDRIA, Va. -- It's got to be some kind of record. Louis Kokonis has been teaching math in Alexandria since Eisenhower was president.
He's 86 years old and has been teaching for 60 years with no plans to retire.
But there's something special about Mr. Kokonis that goes way beyond his longevity.
He doesn't shout. He speaks so softly his students fall silent to listen.
At 86, he's still the rumpled, chalk-covered teacher he was when he started in 1959.
"I wouldn't be anything else," he said.
In six decades, first at Hammond High School and then at T.C. Williams, Mr. Kokonis has taught generations of young people. So many students, it takes him a second to do the math.
"I have about 100 a year, so that's 6,000."
There's something about his quiet, gentle manner that calms math anxiety and opens new worlds.
"He opened my calculus world. He made me feel like calculus is not that hard. It actually could be fun to do it," said senior Sirawit Srakaew, his excitement easy to hear in his voice.
Among his former students is his current boss, Alexandria schools superintendent.
"I was in Mr. Kokonis' class, had to be 26 years ago," said Dr. Gregory C. Hutchings, Jr. "I gave Mr. Kokonis a run for his money."
But Hutchings expresses something we heard a lot about Kokonis.
"He believed in me, in math before I even believed in myself. He told me I was talented in math. I didn't know I was. I didn't even know it was something I was going to pursue."
Statistician Charles Rothwell, the director of the National Center for Health Statistics, was one of Mr. Kokonis' first students.
"At that time, he frankly wasn't the best teacher. But he was sincere, and he wanted to teach. And you could feel it. And that made a difference," said Rothwell.
His room is never empty. Students are always stopping by for extra help.
His chalk board has given way to a smart board, so his clothes are no longer powdered with chalk.
Even after all this time, he's still learning, still honing his craft and embracing new technology.
"We have people in their 30s and 40s who are reluctant," to adopt new tech, said math department chair Catherine Medina-Devilliers. "He's so kind and he's so gentle. And he brings that all the time, every day to his classroom and his kids. We're all honored to be teaching here with him."
Never married and no children of his own, he plans to keep teaching as long as he's able.
"You have to like students.... I hope I made a difference....I did my best," he said.
T.C. Williams is perhaps best known for the movie, "Remember the Titans," about the school's first integrated football team. Kokonis was teaching then, but he said it must have all happened down in the athletic office while he was upstairs teaching math -- because he doesn't remember any of it.
On January 11th, The Scholarship Fund of Alexandria will celebrate his years of service with a big party and a scholarship in his honor.
