📷: Louis Kokonis / Alexandria City High School
EdNews Virginia | January 8, 2024
High school math teacher Louis Kokonis, beloved by generations of Alexandria students, died on January 4, 2024. He was 91.
Kokonis, the longest-serving educator in the history of Alexandria City Public Schools, taught math since 1959. In 2018, the Louis Kokonis Teaching Legend Scholarship was established (those interested can donate here).
“Our Titan Community has lost a dedicated mentor and teacher. Our City has lost a legend,” Alexandria City High School posted on X. “Rest in Peace Lou Kokonis.”
Last year, CBS News correspondent Scott MacFarlane met with Kokonis to discuss a career that lasted more than 60 years. “The calculus Kokonis teaches hasn’t changed, but his calculus had to,” MacFarlane noted.
Today’s students have new challenges, Kokonis said — notably the “addictive” phones they hold in their hands.
With no wife or kids of his own, Kokonis dedicated himself completely to students, even offering free tutoring on Saturdays. Kokonis was typically the first to arrive on school days. MacFarlane credited this “old school approach” for Kokonis’s success as a teacher.
“For him to be working in teaching for this long and to still, like, put in all this extra effort on Saturdays, I really admire that about him,” student Mohamed Eltireke said of Kokonis.
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