Teacher Appreciation Week: Alex Finney, Online Art Ed Student
2022 Teacher Appreciation Week
When you think about your dream job, favorite subject, or ultimate passion, who comes to mind? Who helped you discover that interest? We’ll give you a hint. It starts with a “t” and ends with “r.” That’s right, a teacher! For many of us, we often think back to a particular teacher who empowered us to go for our dreams, who taught us about a topic we found surprisingly captivating, and who took an interest in our well-being.
It’s Teacher Appreciation Week, and we’re celebrating at CFA by recognizing CFA students who are also educators! Every day this week (May 2-May 6), we will feature a teacher who’ll speak about their experience as a teacher, how the CFA program they’re currently studying is helping them advance in their careers, and what Teacher Appreciation Week means to them.
Meet Alex Finney, CFA Online Art Education Student
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and now residing in Harrison Township, Michigan, Alex Finney teaches drawing, painting, and graphic design courses at Grosse Pointe South High School. He’s also a student in CFA’s online Master of Arts in Art Education program, where he’s learned more contemporary material and has been able to put the content he’s learned into practice. Keep reading to find out what Teacher Appreciation Week means to Alex.
CFA: What inspired you to become a teacher?
Dr. Lisa Hochtritt and the Art Ed staff at the old Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver.
What do you enjoy most about teaching?
The ability to connect with kids from various cultures and backgrounds.
Can you share some of your career highlights/proudest moments?
I met my wife, also an educator, while teaching Visual Arts at Colegio Internacional de Carabobo in Valencia, Venezuela.
Have you faced any challenges as an educator and if so, how did you overcome them?
The need to always advocate for the arts to administration that sometimes is more considered with standardized test scores or school subjects that are easier to quantify and assess.
What does Teacher Appreciation Week mean to you?
It allows me to reflect on my ten-year career and all the amazing students and teachers I’ve met over the years.
If someone were to tell you at this moment, “I want to be a teacher,” what advice would you give them?
Do classroom observations and get a feel for different classroom environments. I would recommend they consider teaching internationally at some point. I didn’t know I wanted to be a teacher until I started observing classrooms.
How would you describe your experience as an online student at CFA?
Tremendous, I love my professors and the flexibility with scheduling.
What do you hope to get out of the MA in Art Education program?
The pay increase with a Master’s degree, but also more contemporary material than I studied in undergrad 10 years ago.
How do you think the program will help you in your career as an educator?
BU is a marketable name on my resume and the content I’ve learned is put into practice.
Doing any interesting research?
For my thesis, I did some interesting work concerning the Moral Rights of artists and how they play in the court of law. For instance, if I buy an original painting, can I then add to it or change the painting because it is “mine”? To what extent?
What other passions/hobbies do you have outside of teaching?
I love playing hockey, camping, skateboarding and snowboarding, scuba diving, playing golf, but most importantly spending time with my family.
Anything else you’d like to add?
Keep advocating for art education. We teach students not to become artists, but to think like artists.