Mr. Keoseyan 

Mr. Keoseyan: Foodie, Science Teacher, And…… One Direction Fan?

By Naomi Breay and Mia DeDominicis

March 2023

Many people here at MHS know and love Mr. Keoseyan, fondly called Mr. K by his students. Having been at Melrose High for seven years, he has taught many courses in his time here, including environmental science and anatomy, but his most popular class is biology. 

Born in Yerevan, Armenia, Mr. K moved to the United States at a young age and grew up in Glendale, California, attending Glendale Public Schools. After graduating from Glendale High School as a member of the class of 2006, he made the decision to move to Massachusetts and attend Northeastern University. 

For most of Mr. K’s childhood, he was not interested in becoming a teacher later in life. According to him, he aspired to be “all the things everybody typically thinks they’ll become,” including a chef, firefighter, and even a professional athlete. It wasn’t until he took high school biology that he realized that being a teacher, specifically a biology teacher, was his true calling, and pursued that profession ever since. He had liked science from a young age, even having won first place in his first grade science fair. It was meant to be! In fact, he was inspired by his high school biology teacher - as he puts it, “He was very funny, and he made the topic interesting. Ever since then, I knew what I wanted to do.”

Mr. Keoseyan has been a teacher for 10 years, the first 3 of which he spent at Haverhill High School. He shares that his favorite part of teaching is the students, and particularly “asking them how their day is and making them laugh if they’re not having a good day.” He also says that high school students are the perfect age range for him, as he is not good with elementary level children, and that middle school is “a very unique bunch to be able to deal with that I don’t think I could do.”

While Mr. K might seem like your average biology teacher, he has a love many others can share. If you’ve talked with Mr. K, you know that he can be very particular with his taste in music and movies, which is why his unabashed love for the British boy band One Direction is so unexpected to many. “It’s no secret - I have no shame in admitting that they are the best boy band of all time,” he declared. He says his favorite album is Midnight Memories, his favorite members of the band were Zayn and Harry Styles, and his favorite song is Story Of My Life and the music video of Night Changes. 

Mr. K is also a foodie and a film buff. When asked if he could have any other job in the world other than a teacher, he said he’d love to be a film critic. Another big part of his classes are talking about his signature Top Ten Lists, mostly consisting of his top 100 movies of all time. Some on his top movies list are, LaLaLand, The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, There Will Be Blood, Whiplas, Up!, Manchester By The Sea, The Lion King, The Fighter, Portrait of a Lady on Fire. An avid foodie, Mr. K recommends Public Kitchen in Wakefield as “the best” restaurant nearby. A fan of Korean food, he also likes the K Restaurant in Peabody. 

If you ever want to stop by to talk about One Direction, new movies (good or bad!), wrestling, soccer, or just say hello, be sure to pay a visit to Mr. K in room 119!