Mr. Doyle’s path back to O'Dea, and why he is still here. By Dylan Pignotti

SEATTLE-For Mike Doyle, O’Dea is in his blood. Not only did he spend his four years of high school here, he has been a teacher and coach for many years and has been beloved in the community. He has made a huge impact in the school over the time he has been here.

He also teaches eleventh grade history and is known for his great class conversations and engaging the class making it interesting.

over the past 15 years, Doyle and the baseball team have made it to four state championship games, having won two of them. for all of the accomplishment Doyle has had at O'Dea, he was inducted into the O'Dea wall of Honor.

When Doyle left O’Dea as a student, he knew that he had two passions, history and baseball. he knew that somehow he wanted to keep baseball a part of his life. He ended up going to Gonzaga to play baseball and major in history.

"I knew I enjoyed baseball, and I enjoyed that aspect of my life, but I didn’t know where it would take me,” said Doyle about his aspirations after high school.

When Doyle first came back to O’Dea, he came not for the reasons one might think a teacher would come to a school. At first, he came to O'Dea because he had passion to coach baseball. He couldn’t think of a better place than O'Dea. He, at first, was more engaged in coaching, but he learned to enjoy the teaching aspect of his job. He started to like connecting to the kids in not just coaching but teaching as well.

“Teaching was sort of a means to an end so I could coach.”

Doyle loved how he felt wanted and involved at O'Dea. He liked the fact that the school had his back and took him as a teacher without a lot of experience. He talked about how he felt like the school wanted him to succeed as a teacher and as an individual and how that is important to him.

O’Dea was not Doyle’s first job. In college he worked at Target for a few years. After college, he did an internship year at a school. He had a horrible experience at that school and knew he wanted something else. He taught at a grade school in Spokane for 2 years and enjoyed that but moved. After that he decided to call O'Dea and ask for a job.

Doyle's favorite part about O'Dea is why it’s such a special place. He loves how it brings in kids from all around the greater Seattle area. The variety of kids from different backgrounds is the most special thing about the place.

“O’Dea reaches a broad demographic, it reaches kids from all over, and that’s pretty special."

Doyle is a very beloved member of the O'Dea community. He is celebrated by everyone that plays baseball. Everyone that has his history class loves his witty comments that he makes to get kids to be quiet. He is truly a special and unique member of the community. Without Doyle, the baseball team would surely fall apart.