"I always thought it would be awesome to teach at my old high school," Kassay told me during an interview in his expansive classroom yesterday afternoon. "I wouldn't be where I am today if Fairfield wasn't the comprehensive high school that it was. We had those options --- graphics, mechanics, woodworking."
Kassay, who graduated from Central Connecticut State College in 1978 with a degree in Industrial Arts Education, began his teaching career at Seymour High School in the Fall of that same year. He eventually bought a piece of property in the valley city from a co-worker at Seymour High School, built a home, and has lived there since 1988.
Kassay taught at Seymour High School until 1985, when he accepted a position at Andrew Warde High School. He remained at the Melville Avenue campus when Warde and Ludlowe merged into Fairfield High School in 1988. That's when he met his wife, the former Patty Kural, who was an interim headmaster during the consolidation. She also was a physical education teacher, intramural coach, and diving and gymnastics coach.
However, he was a victim of the consolidation and his position was eliminated in 1990. For the next eight years, Kassay played Mr. Mom to his three children. He returned as a part-time teacher in 1999 and accepted a full-time position in 2001. Since then, he's been doing what he loves every day.
Kassay said teaching at his high school brings back "a lot of memories. I think of all the teachers that I had, some of whom are still here. But, I just have a good time being in the building that I was once in, roaming the halls, and seeing the different changes," he admitted.
"My best memories were my shop classes, my Industrial Arts classes," admitted Kassay when asked what he most fondly recalls about his days at Andrew Warde High School. "I loved wordworking, I loved auto mechanics, I loved the graphic arts, and we had electricity, and, of course, phys ed. Those were my best."
He stays in touch with many of his former classmates, too. "I see a lot of my close friends that I graduated with and played softball for many, many years with. In fact, one of my friends lives up in Seymour where I live, and we get together," added Kassay, who attended Holland Hill, McKinley, and Fairfield Woods Junior High School as a child.
Kassay, who proudly showed newspaper clippings and woodworking projects of his students, reminisced about several role models he had when he attended Warde in the early 1970s. "Mr. Bednarik was a big influence for me, Mr. Donovan was a big influence, (and) probably in the Industrial Arts area, Mr. Trifone.
"Mr. Keish, who I had at McKinley School and who ended up living a couple blocks away from me, (was a) fantastic man," he continued. Ed Donovan was Kassay's homeroom teacher in S9 during freshman year and in FH26 the next three years after the Fitts wing was built.
Kassay, who will celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary this year, said he and his wife have taken advantage of their teaching schedule by traveling. "We've spent our Summers camping across the country," he told me. "My kids have been in 50 or 60 national parks. We've been in all the states. That is probably the highlight of my life.
"It's been a great thing for the kids," he continued. "They've used it for scholarships. I owe that to the fact that both my wife and I were teachers, and we had Summers off."
Here's hoping John Kassay continues a successful career for many more years.
Paul
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