History teacher, coach, and advisor are only some of the roles John Finch has played during his 34 years at St. Paul Academy and Summit School. He is among the longest standing faculty members at the school, and will be missed when he retires at the end of this school year.
Finch joined the SPA community in the fall of 1980. He had previously taught for five years in northern Minnesota and worked as a restaurant manager for three years. Finch had a common acquaintance with the principle at the time, who recommended him for a position in the history department.
“I was recommended by a professor at the College of Education at the University of Minnesota,” Finch said.
One of the aspects of being at SPA which Finch will miss the most is being around the students. “That’s one of the things that brought me back to teaching after I had left,” he said. “Also the variety of questions and insights that students have.”
More recently, Finch has enjoyed teaching kids whose parents were also his students. “That’s kind of a fun thing to see how it all works out,” he said.
As he moves into his retirement, Finch has a wide variety of goals he would like to meet, ranging from personal wellness, to family and especially travel.
“I don’t have any immediate plans to travel, but what I’d like to do is combine my interest of travelling with some community service in other countries.” Finch said.
“I’m particularly interested in Thailand and Vietnam because I’ve been to Thailand and we have family members who are from Vietnam and they would like to go back.”