I am very excited and honored to begin the next step in my education journey as Assistant Principal of Park Junior High in the 24-25 school year. My goal is to jump right into the role and make an immediate positive impact on the students and community.
This year, I will have completed my 12th year as a teacher. The beginning of my career was teaching 6th - 8th grade math, around the Starved Rock area, near my home town of Oglesby, IL. For the past 5 years, I have been teaching a mix of 8th grade math and Algebra at Park. Before Park Junior High, I spent a year as a K-8 Assistant Principal at Tonica Grade School. My goals have always been to continue learning, reflecting, and improving and I look forward to focusing on those goals as an administrator.
As Assistant Principal, my focus will be to overcome the challenge of making connections with students. My passion was always about building relationships and being a trusted adult for the kids I would see in my classroom, and I hope my new role will allow me to extend that to the entire building and community.
Outside of the classroom, I absolutely love being a father to my now three year old daughter. We spend most of our time reading books and playing dress up, but my favorite activity is watching her face light up after achieving a goal and laughing at all of the little things. When I have time to myself, I enjoy cooking, swimming, golfing, bowling, and basketball.
As the students are enthusiastically counting down their days until graduation, I realize that we are sharing an excitement and major change. They will be focused on the joys and stresses of high school while I focus on how to grow as a leader and extend my passions throughout District 102.
Looking forward to working together,
Mr. Finley