Beginning a journey within a new environment can be very challenging given that there may be a struggle to find new friends, a groove, or comfortability. Mr. Gregory Oke describes how his upbringing and aspirations have led him to the University of Detroit Jesuit High School, how he has thrived at the school so far as it is his first official year at the High, and how welcome he feels as a teacher from the staff, board, and students.
Mr. Gregory Oke was raised in Dearborn, Michigan. During his childhood, Oke went to public school kindergarten through twelfth grade. While attending Dearborn High School, Oke played football, basketball and ran track. Oke was also a part of a program at his school called “Ignite”, where he would volunteer for the Special Olympics and “do some community service outreach programs”. Oke’s favorite memory in high school was being a part of the track team. “It wasn’t just that we were successful, but also that everybody was a close-knit group of friends”. Oke’s favorite class in high school was U.S. History because of his teacher who was “really dynamic,” which made the class enjoyable for him.
After Oke graduated from high school, he furthered his education at Alma College for undergrad. He earned his degree in math and also met his favorite teacher there, Tim Sipka, who was a math professor. Oke stated, “I had always been naturally talented at math, but I had gotten away from it for some reason, but I decided to take one more math class and Sipka happened to be teaching it. If it weren’t for him, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into mathematics and wouldn’t have become a teacher”. Oke claims that Sipka loved his profession so much that his positive impact rubbed off on him, and he began to see himself one day teaching. After Oke graduated from Alma, he attended Oakland University to earn his master’s degree in educational leadership.
Recently, right before this school year, Oke was added to the U of D faculty and staff as a math teacher. He teaches Academy and 9th grade math at the High. Choosing to teach at U of D was an easy choice because he really liked the atmosphere of the school when he came for his interview. “It was very appealing to me to teach at a school where values are important, which is different from the environment I grew up in at public school”. Oke discussed how the staff and students are great to him, and that he has heard many great things about U of D, so it seemed like the perfect fit for him.
Outside of school, Oke loves to golf and hike especially at national parks in his free time. During the summer and on weekends, Oke works at Foxhills golf course. “If I’m not at the school, there is a good chance I’m at the golf course either working or playing”. Oke claims that if he was not a teacher, he would love to be a National Park ranger. “To be able to live full time in that setting at least for a couple years would be something special”.
Oke’s top three qualities he uses to describe himself are his patience, “maybe too patient at times”, his value to always to be kind, and being introspective, “which is the math side of me”. As the school year moves on, anyone who sees or knows Mr. Oke will know him for the amazing values he holds himself to everyday inside or outside the classroom.
