Video: Teachers Get Engaged in Bishop O’Connell Classroom

Two social studies teachers who met at @DJOChair @OConnellHS give new meaning to “student engagement.” Congrats Mr. Whittaker and Ms. Moynihan!!! #WeAreDJO pic.twitter.com/mg9SPt2ykW

— John Meehan (@MeehanEDU) March 28, 2018

A social studies teacher popped the question to a fellow educator at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington yesterday, and the proposal was captured on video.

The couple, John Whittaker and Lisa Moynihan, met when they were both teaching at the private school, which is also known by the acronym DJO. That culminated in a moment Wednesday afternoon that gave “new meaning to ‘student engagement,'” in the words of one of their colleagues.

Moynihan recounted what happened.

“It was a total surprise to me — John, who taught at DJO last year but is currently teaching at Visitation, had coordinated with some of our friends and colleagues to help him pull it off,” she wrote. “Many of our former students were there to witness it all. It was such a special moment, because as he said in his proposal, O’Connell is where we met and fell in love.”

Students cheered as Moynihan tearfully said “yes.”

There was also something special about the ring, which is not seen clearly in the video. Whittaker had arranged to propose with the ring Moynihan’s grandfather gave to her grandmother just before he went off to enlist during World War II.

The newly-engaged couple plans to get married at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame in the summer of 2019.