The Academy Chronicle recently sat down for an interview with Mr. Fogg, our newest addition to the school’s Business and Finance faculty. Mr. Fogg instructs AP Microeconomics for juniors, AP Macroeconomics for seniors, as well as Advanced Business Topics for ABF sophomores. He also teaches an elective called Financial Markets and Trading. This interview allowed the Chronicle to learn more about Mr. Fogg’s life experiences and his career. 

How did you come to BCA?

To make the long story short, I worked in banking for a long time. I had always sort of thought about teaching and that feeling increased as the years went on. So in 2018, I finally decided that I wanted to give teaching a shot, so I went back to school to get a teaching degree. I spent about a year doing that and then became aware of the opportunity for a business teacher here at BCA and it seemed like a great fit. 

In college, I was a computer science major originally.

How did you gain interest in your passions such as banking?

In college, I was a Computer Science major originally, so as an Undergrad, I graduated with a  computer science job in a bank which was really interesting. But at the same time, I found myself drawn to the business side of the organization, so I decided that I wanted to be more involved in the business side. To do that, I needed some more skills, so I went back to school and got a master’s in Business and Finance. After that, I was able to get a job in banking where I spent a pretty good stretch of my years. I had a great experience, did a lot of different kinds of jobs, got to work with lots of different and great people. I really did enjoy that experience. But I always thought that teaching was also something I wanted to explore, so I talked about it a lot and finally, my family said, “You talk about this a lot, you should explore this in more depth and seriousness”.  So six years ago I started it and eventually found myself really wanting to take the opportunity to see what it would be like. So far I am glad to say that I have been pretty happy with that decision. 

So you’ve gone to many schools- what was high school and college like?

High school … wow… That was a really long time ago for me. I went to a public high school in Massachusetts and it was a great school and a great experience. It was also a big school- not unlike BCA- so there were lots of different opportunities to do different things there. I think that prepared me pretty well for college. Interestingly enough, the college I graduated from was much smaller than my high school, so it was sort of an interesting experience there. But I really liked the relationships that I built in college in addition to the content explored. In terms of working and going back to school, it always seemed like a natural progression after you do something for a while: you decide you want to explore something else, you need new skills, and you learn them. It was a natural step for me.

I actually went to teaching school to be history teacher- that was the original objective.

How did you choose BCA while searching for teaching opportunities?

I actually went to teaching school to be a history teacher- that was the original objective- so my whole purpose was geared towards that. As I was starting to explore different opportunities, I became aware of the BCA Business & Finance program and the fact that they were looking for a replacement for Mr. Schwimmer. That was a unique opportunity- one I had not thought about because there aren’t a lot of high school teachers for business out there. So the more I thought about it, it seemed like a natural fit with my background and my interests. As I learned more about it, it also seemed that it would be a really good opportunity for me and … here I am!

Based on your career background, would you ever consider teaching an elective at BCA that is not focused on business & finance?

I think it would be very interesting. I have actually thought about teaching an elective that involves both history and business. Maybe “The History of Capitalism”- I think would be an interesting idea. 

How has your experience been so far?

It has been great. Everyone has been incredibly supportive- the teachers and students. The students don’t laugh at me when I screw something up on Schoology, so that’s nice. It’s been a very welcoming environment. 

What were your first impressions of the school?

It was a little overwhelming, especially having not taught before. I am teaching 4 different classes at the moment, so learning how to prepare for different sets of lessons and units was hard. At first, it was a little daunting just to figure out: you’re putting out fires left and right just to get through every day. But after a few weeks, I started to get into the flow of things and understand the timing of how you had to do things, and what made sense. It’s been getting easier from the time management standpoint. I also have homework now! It’s been a while.  

Outside of school, what are a few things you do when you’re not teaching?

I spend time with my family. I have a wife and three daughters, and my youngest daughter is a senior in high school as well. It is kind of interesting to have students the same age as my daughter, and she’s actually taking economics as a subject in her high school so we have a lot of funny conversations about that. In addition to spending time with them, I like to do things outdoors such as hiking and running.

What is the best advice you have ever been given?

Let’s see… I’ll tell you two things: My dad told me very early on “measure twice; cut once.” Whenever you’re building something or doing something, when you have to cut a piece of wood or whatever it might be- always make sure how much before you cut. So that’s one thing. For the second, my mom always encouraged me to do things that I loved and enjoyed. I think that’s what ultimately led me to teach. 

Thank you so much for sharing!