New OVS history teacher Tyson Luneau has a secret.
He might focus on working hard toward his Ph.D. in history, traveling to do research, and developing film in his kitchen, but deep down he is a punk music-listening skateboarder.
“I broadened my music taste in many ways over the years, but some of the core ideas of punk music [DIY ethic, social awareness, individuality, etc.] had a major influence on other aspects of my life, including my teaching, practice, and approach to studying history,” he explains.
He found his love for history by wanting to explore life outside his small town in New Hampshire.
Upon exploring the outside world, he wanted to become one of the teachers that inspired him in his youth to love and explore history and its importance in understanding the human experience.
“I just developed this like really elaborate fascination with the world. I wanted to learn about all these different places, and all of these different people,” Mr. Luneau said.
Fittingly, Mr. Luneau is a world traveler. He has gone to North Africa and all throughout Europe. He went to Central Asia to study Russian colonialism, but the Ukraine and Russia conflict made it difficult to research the Russian Archives. He has plans to go back next year.
“I won a grant that was specifically for environmental history in the former Soviet Union,” he said. “So I’ll be going to Uzbekistan to research at the National Archives in Tashkent.”
All of this traveling has to do with his Ph.D. His specific area of study is environmental history and colonialism in the 19th- 20th centuries.
Although Mr. Luneau has traveled and plans to travel in the future, he is calling the Ojai Valley his home for now.
“I was looking for a place that I could teach, kind of get back into that really community-oriented school,” he said.
As a new boys’ dorm parent, Mr. Luneau has been able to get to know his students on a more personal level outside of the classroom.
“He’s just so friendly, he really has the OVS spirit,” says sophomore dormer Shuhei Kotani.
Inside the classroom, Mr. Luneau teaches four history classes– World History, AP World History, United States History, and AP United States History. He is so excited to be able to integrate his traveling and environmental history into his curriculum. He loves how accepting and open OVS is to change. He knows that this place is right for him, and can not wait to see how he can make his mark on this school.
“When I had my first interview with Mr. Floyd and a few other folks and it just seemed like everyone was very happy to be here,” Mr. Luneau beams.