These profiles of new Unalaska City School District teachers were written by high school students in Rainier Marquez's photojournalism class. They have not been edited by KUCB staff.
Angela Finlay grew up in an Irish neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which at that time was one of the largest cities in the United States. The city granted Ms. Finlay a beneficial type of freedom. “you can be anonymous,” she says, “you can do a lot on your own, you don't necessarily you have the community around you all the time, which can be better”. Ms. Finlay described the perfect balance, on the verge between the neighborhood where everyone knew your family name, and a large city where you could slip away.
Mrs. Finlay attending high school at a large Roman Catholic School. Unlike the experience of our high schoolers here, Ms. Finlay’s high school had about 1,000 students in each class. “It was so diverse, that it offered a lot of different electives and different activities”
In stark contrast, she attended Loyola College (now Loyola University) in Maryland. It was a small Jesuit liberal arts school in Maryland, but the real highlight of her time there was junior year, when she traveled on exchange to Belgium.
In the years to come, Ms. Finlay received her law degree from New York Law School, and worked as an attorney doing class action litigation. She went back to school for accounting to understand the subject better. Then about 10 years ago, she decided she wanted a change. “I thought it would be great to provide students with a strong foundation” So she went back to school for her master’s in Education. She taught French in New York and then headed north. She has taught in Alaska for 5 years. Now she teaches English 10, Technical Writing, and Middle School U.S. History.
Mrs. Finlay enjoys hiking with her dog, but has to admit that most of her hobbies have to do with swimming. She also enjoys traveling during the summer.