By Jaenedy Alcantara
Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: “I've been teaching for 27 years now.”
Q: What is your opinion on YONDR?
A: “I think it's unfortunate that we needed to resort to using YONDR, but I think the benefits are going to outweigh the negatives.”
Q: What do you most enjoy and least enjoy about your job?
A: “I like coming in everyday. I like the interaction with the students. I like when they are enthusiastic. That’s all very satisfying to me, as an educator. It’s great to see students who know absolutely nothing about this industry be successful after taking this class. It's also great to witness the growth in unmotivated students as they become more and more motivated as far as academics go."
Q: Have you had any other jobs/careers other than teaching?
A: “Yes, I have. I used to have a printing company and I was a coach for boys soccer for 15 years here at Chicopee High School, and I also coached boys soccer at Chicopee Comprehensive High School for 9 seasons.”
Q: What was one of your highlights as a coach?
A: One of the highlights from my coaching days would have been taking the boys and girls teams to England. We took the boys to Ireland, too. Going overseas with the athletes was a great experience.
Q: What was one of your highlights as a teacher?
A: Seeing students grow from young, inexperienced freshmen to happy, confident seniors is always a satisfying thing for me. See that is a yearly highlight."
Q: What made you want to get into teaching?
A: “So, I never started out wanting to be a teacher but I started out as a coach and when a teaching position opened up, I applied for it and I got it. Teaching is a lot like coaching and coaching is a lot like teaching, so the two go hand-in-hand pretty well.”
Q: What was your “I almost quit” moment as a teacher?
A: “I don't think I've had one, but I will say that I find that this year in particular to be extremely challenging. But I don't think I've reached the point where I'd quit yet.”
Q: What was your “This job is totally worth it” moment as a teacher?
A: “I don't think it's just a moment, I think it's an accumulation of moments. I find it very enjoyable coming in everyday. I don’t look at it as 'oh no it’s Monday, I've got to come into work.' I like coming in. I don’t think it’s been one moment. I think it’s a series of moments. I teach electives, so by definition students should want to be here which makes a big difference. Much like coaching, students want to play a sport, they chose to be there. So I find that a reason that makes it more enjoyable is because they want to be here.”
Q: What’s the most difficult daily aspect of your job?
A: “We are in the business of dealing with people and people have complicated lives, so just understanding people would be the most difficult daily aspect of the job. Some days, they may be having a bad day and you don’t know what they are going through in life so you have to be cognizant of that. Yet, at the same time, you know it’s about learning about life and that you need to sort of fight through those moments. It's about balancing the good and the bad.”
Q: How do you typically spend your breaks and your summer?
A: “I used to spend it coaching, but now I spend it with my dog and with my wife.”
Q: Why do you teach what you teach?
A: “Well, as I said, my family had a printing business when I was younger and this is a printing-related class and they tie in pretty well together.”
Q: How different is your personality outside of school compared to in school?
A: “I think I'm a little bit more of an introvert, so when I'm outside of school I want to be on my own, but when I'm in school I have to become an extrovert because by the nature of the job you have to be. But I like my privacy outside of school.”
Q: If you knew then what you know now, would you still have decided to get into the profession of teaching?
A: “Well as I said, I was a coach so I love coaching, Coaching is a passion of mine, teaching is an extension of that, but if I knew then what I know now, I would’ve been a little bit more aware of the pay scale. Money isn’t everything, but it sure does help. However, I don’t regret my decision.”
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