Former CEO, police officer and engineer: Second-career teachers find paths in Collier schools

Cliff Greer took a $20,000 pay cut to teach engineering and coach football at Naples High School.

He said he would do it again.

After starting a career in 2004 at Kraft Construction, Greer, 33, decided to pursue a second career in teaching after nearly four years with the company. Now, he's going into his ninth year in the classroom and on the field. 

Other professionals are finding a new path in Collier schools, hoping to teach students career skills and bring them lessons from outside of the classroom.

Collier County Schools human resources director Valerie Wenrich wrote in an email that there's not an increase in second-career teachers within the district, but on average, professionals show interest in pursuing teaching each year. 

Jonathan Tuttle, executive director of the local teachers union, wrote in an email that second-career teaching is not an issue for the union. 

Second-career teachers can't just walk off the street and into a classroom. Florida requires them to earn a professional educators' certificate.

They must have a bachelor's degree, submit fingerprints for a background check and pass an appropriate subject area exam.

Certificate holders also must complete Florida's general knowledge test, have two semesters of full-time college teaching experience or reach a required score on the GRE general test.

They are required to complete an approved teacher preparation program or other approved professional training program.

Greer, who serves as engineering academy director, was recognized nationally as an outstanding teacher by Project Lead The Way, a nonprofit organization that develops STEM curriculum for use by elementary, middle and high schools.

More:Naples High engineering teacher receives national award for engaging his classes

One of his favorite things is watching his kids grow up before his eyes while learning along the way, Greer said. 

"Being able to teach something that's in my background, I wasn't as much of a fish out of water as some people might fear they (second careers) are," Greer said. "If you can find a way to teach something that you already know about it makes it pretty easy."

The district paid for Greer to take required college courses he needed to work as a teacher, he said. 

"We often have candidates with an interest, but they do not have the qualifications to meet state requirements," Wenrich wrote in an email. "We do not turn them away."  

Bringing experience to classrooms

For 10 years, Robert Benya was the CEO for In Demand, a company that provides on demand services like pay-per-view. Before that, Benya, 60, worked at Time Warner as an executive in New York.

"I decided that launching a second career would be great, and as I thought about all of the different possibilities or options, it just became a no-brainer to become a business teacher," Benya said. "Business is my passion."

In business, his days were about organizing different operating divisions that spanned from Maine to Hawaii. 

But now his days are focused on keeping four classes of pre-teens on task to learn about business at Cypress Palm Middle School. He said he wouldn’t have it any other way.

From robotics to sales and marketing classes, Benya is a career and technical education teacher, which focuses on potential career paths for students. 

In his business world, Benya said, he was an informal teacher, but he is still figuring things out in his classroom job that he started in August. 

"There's some really important aspects to it (teaching) that you really have to master," Benya said. 

He mentioned classroom management and planning take time to figure out. Support from his colleagues are helping him adjust quickly, Benya said.

"These are fantastic people and they really have made my life easy on-boarding into a totally new career," Benya said.

Benya has his students work on daily presentations, communication and sharing ideas with their classrooms, skills that he said helps them prepare for whatever careers they choose. 

Benya said his path to teaching may seem unlikely, but he feels fulfilled helping students reach goals, like his marketing students who launched a branded "Fresh" drink to sell in the school's cafeteria. 

ICYMI:Twentieth child accuses former Parkside Elementary teacher of molestation

From a patrol car to P.E.

Craving something new, Chris Gelardi and his family moved to Naples two years ago after he retired from the Greenburgh Police Department near White Plains, New York.

Gelardi, 42, worked to get his master's degree in physical education at Hofstra University in 2007, which he hoped to use as a DARE or school resource officer. That didn't work out, so he decided to take a job as a patrol officer.

Education never escaped his mind, he said. While on patrol, he would make a point of going by schools, doing walk-throughs and getting involved with school activities.

"It's in my blood," Gelardi said. "It's kind of something I always wanted to do."

Still, when he first got his physical education class assignments at Golden Gate Middle School, Gelardi said his nerves were on edge.

"There's a different stress level here," Gelardi said. "We have 45 minutes. We've got to get them in the locker room. We've got to get them out. We have to teach our plan then we've got to them in the locker room and get them out for the next class."

Gelardi said he didn't consider becoming a school resource officer in Naples despite what might have been an obvious choice. Instead, he uses his ability to respond and not react — which he learned in law enforcement — in the gymnasium.

"If they (children) have a problem, they might just want to blow off some steam and they want to see how you're going to react," Gelardi said.

Teaching is about building a relationship with students, Gelardi said. Greer and Benya shared his sentiments.

Greer, Gelardi and Benya said there's always a bit of doubt and a learning curve in teaching, but each of them felt compelled to join the field. 

"I loved what I was doing," Greer said. "I loved being on projects, but I felt like I was being pulled and I was getting called to do this job.

"That shot may not have come again."