Ciecek Profile

Erin Kim - Senior Art Director

He’s the man manning the streets and the man behind the OCSA scene, establishing order throughout campus through the strict authority in his voice, the boldness of his suits, and the power of his megaphones. Evolution decided to sit down and have a conversation with the man himself. 

From getting scolded for crossing the street with only three seconds left to moshing at school dances, students are familiar with the disciplined persona Michael Ciecek, the dean of facilities and supervision, embodies. Which leaves some of us wondering: who really is Mr. Ciecek? Ciecek has a reputation for being the “big man on campus,” but do students know him as the person he truly is when separated from his work life? 

Like the majority of us, Ciecek grew up in Orange County. He had his humble OCSA beginnings as an APUSH teacher and Leadership Advisor in the early 2000’s, yet he still involved himself in some administrative work. Talking with students came differently to him when acting as a teacher as opposed to doing so as an administrator. When it came to more “disciplinary talks” Ciecek felt that he “had to make a deliberate shift.” 

“[When talking with students] I’d say [to myself] ‘I’m taking off my teacher hat and putting on my administrator hat.’” 

His metaphor for his two different personas highlights the Ciecek students usually see. To the students, it feels like his administration hat is glued to his head.

Ciecek always values safety for OCSA above anything else. His reasoning for installing new rules such as not having access to your car until 2 p.m. is solely based on ensuring safety for students. But with installing new rules, there always seems to be lots of backlash from the students who don’t agree with them. An interesting statement came up during the interview, Ciecek said  “Our OCSA students are very good at advocating for themselves, but along with that some students think ‘if I advocate, I must get my way.’ And that’s not always the case, just because you advocate doesn’t mean it’s always going to be a yes.”

Continuing with the interview, Ciecek spoke with us on what his after-school day looks like. As many of us have rehearsals and long commutes that delay our free-time and home arrivals, after school Mr. Ciecek starts what he and his wife call the “second shift”. Picking up his kids from school and dropping them back off at practices and extracurriculars, Ciecek doesn’t meet his free time until 9 p.m., when he typically crashes on the couch for his evening nap. But before he gets his beauty sleep for the night, Mr. Ciecek must do the dishes. 

“I love to do dishes, like, dishes are solely cathartic for me... I’ll just set up my phone on Hulu, as I’m cleaning [and] drying…”

Ciecek also stated that music and the arts have been a part of his life before his time at OCSA. When asked about the best concert he’s ever been to Mr. Ciecek said he drove all the way out to Paso Robles for the Midstate Fair to see the one, the only, Keith Urban. 

“Seeing Keith Urban perform was pretty cool… it was legit.”

Minoring in theater at UCSD, Ciecek has experience in production and design: running the behind the scenes of shows, he has worked in lighting and sound. Ciecek also has a teaching credential to teach drama in his back pocket. All this to say, don’t be surprised when Mr. Ciecek shows up to conservatory and leads your class in some improv games and movement exercises  (while of course, still maintaining the order that the classroom needs).

In meeting with Ciecek, we learned a lot about his life outside of school, But we also learned how his outside life affects the way he acts at OCSA. Ciecek values order and precision, and this is seen in the cleaning routine he performs nightly. He is conversational but he saves it for the times when he’s wearing the right hat. In an alternate universe, Ciecek is a dish cleaning, country loving, family guy who would have Nicolas Cage or Pitbull play him on the silver screen if there was a movie of his life. Is it possible that this “other Ciecek” coexists with the Ciecek we know and see?

Through the course of this interview, we discovered that OCSA truly rules his world. Valuing order and cleanliness in his home life translates to how he runs the school, and sheds light on why he structures OCSA the way he does. You can take the boy out of OCSA but you can’t take OCSA out of the boy.