Have you ever wondered what a teacher’s occupation was before they became an official teacher? Here are the career histories of some of Stamford High School’s teachers:

Foreign Language teacher Karen Grady has been teaching Latin at Stamford High for 23 years. What inspired her to become a teacher was that she was the oldest of six kids, and she would play teacher with them as a child. It was then that she developed a passion for teaching. Before she became a teacher though, she worked as a surgical assistant. Her experience as a surgical assistant involved a lot of communicating, learning to have compassion because of the ill patients that were seen on a daily basis, and developing an understanding of how the body operates.

Science teacher Anne Runge has been working here since the fall of 2011. What inspired her to become a teacher were some of her past science teachers. It was her goal to share her passion and knowledge about science with children so they could be inspired as well. Before becoming a science teacher, Runge worked as a scientist at a pharmaceutical company. Runge also worked at a company that made scientific equipment. She explained her experience working with these companies and being a teacher as “equally difficult,” but for different reasons.

English teacher Kim Petrafesa is in her second year at SHS. Before becoming an English teacher she worked as a long-term sub, and before the long-term sub position she worked as a coordinator for a product development company which specified in making tableware. What inspired her to become a teacher was a love of working with children, and of being able to help and push students to the best of their ability. She described her experience working at the tableware company as enjoyable, but not as much as working with children.

Many other teachers here started out with other career paths. Luckily for us, though, their paths eventually led to teaching at SHS.