Teacher Profile –

A Second Career Leads To Fulfillment In The Classroom

By Tanjua Damon

Albert Finelli is a different kind of teacher. He is not fresh out of college; instead he is begining a second career in teaching at Newtown Middle School.

Mr Finelli spent years in the executive offices of Caldor’s and when the retail company went out of business, he found that it was time to begin again with the teaching degree that he had received years before.

“As time went on, I always planned for a second career,” he said. “The end of the company fit my desire for teaching.”

Mr Finelli said he did not go into teaching after he finished college because there was not a real demand for teachers at that time and the money was not there.

“Caldor’s offered more money… than teaching at that time,” he said.

He received his teaching certificate from Southern Connecticut State.

“Back then it was a college,” he said. “Now it is a university.”

The day the doors closed at Caldor’s, Mr Finelli was on several lists to substitute teach while he went to college to get recertified in both language arts and social studies. He took classes at Sacred Heart University, Western, and Southern Connecticut the second time around, and spent a year and half substitute teaching.

“I love middle school,” he said. “I have always enjoyed the activity and challenge that middle school provides.”

“It’s the best place to be in a great town and a great cluster,” he said. “I suffered through 30 years of a retail career to be happy every day. It was the feel of the school. But when I got in here, the teaching theory they talk about in school, they actually practice and try here.”

He urged other professionals who are considering a second career in teaching to take action and look into the possibility.

“Investigate and ask questions. Take baby steps to get things done,” Mr Finelli said. “I was a better student the second time around. The desire was there and I had a goal. Nobody gets anywhere just thinking about it.”

Mr Finelli is a native of Connecticut and currently lives in Brookfield with is wife, Angela, and their Yorkie dog named Maverick.