Meet Oakland Mills’s Newest Social Studies Teacher!

With the start of our new school year, many new teachers have come to make OM their new hOMe. One such person is Mr. Harris, our newest social studies teacher. You may have seen Mr. Harris last year assisting some of our social studies teachers as an intern, but now, he is a teacher and a new part of our staff here at OMHS. Mr. Harris was born and raised in Howard County, so he is no stranger to our schools and school system. 

Mr. Harris went to Centennial High School before attending UMBC for his college education. Even after all the years spent at Centennial, he still decided that he wanted to work at our amazing school. After working as an intern at Oakland Mills last year, he started to genuinely enjoy OM and the community. “OM really started to feel like a hOMe to me,” Mr. Harris stated about our school. He really enjoyed all the time he spent with students and fellow staff members. 

Mr. Harris was inspired to be a teacher by his family. His whole family consists of teachers, and although at first he was hesitant about the career he wanted to pursue, he ended up spending the majority of his time growing up learning how to be a teacher. What made him want to be a social studies teacher specifically, though, was the fact that all of his favorite teachers growing up were history teachers, so he came to really enjoy the subject. He also likes how important history felt compared to other subjects like math and English.

Now, of course, Mr. Harris is more than just a teacher; he has many different hobbies that he likes to partake in when he is not working. To no one’s surprise, he likes watching movies and TV shows, and he is also trying to get back into reading when he has the time. He specifically enjoys shows and books like the Lord of the Rings/ Hobbit franchise, Percy Jackson, Game of Thrones, Avatar the Last Airbender, and Star Wars, which he enjoys the most. He also flexes his creative side by building legos and painting as some of his other main hobbies.

When asked what era he would like to live in as a social studies teacher, Mr. Harris said that he would want to live during the 1200’s, and specifically 1200’s Old England. According to him, “back then, people weren’t as wild and there weren’t as many Vikings raiding everywhere. I feel like since I know the history there …I would be seen as a wizard back then.” This really goes to show how creative and knowledgeable Mr. Harris is with what he teaches.

Mr. Harris is great to talk to, cares for his students, and is super easy going. He really cares for OM and wants to make sure all of his students succeed. We are thrilled to now welcome Mr. Harris to our school as a teacher and hope that we can make our school feel like a real hOMe to him!