Dave Finlay

Dave is the Director of Academics at ASPIRE who believes the opportunities for learning and growth in an experiential-based (hands-on) wilderness setting are immense. Dave received a B.S. in Education with an endorsement in Special Education Mild/Moderate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has continued at UNL, pursuing a master's degree in working with young people with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders. Dave is also working on a grant for the University, which will award him with a Certificate of Specialization in the area of transition.

While school and grant work at the University do keep Dave busy, his real passion is his current role as a Special Education teacher at Northeast High School in Lincoln, Nebraska. Dave has taught at Northeast for three years, and has been fortunate enough to serve in, and develop several new programs. Perhaps the program Dave believes has been most rewarding is the CORE program for students with Emotional/Behavior Disorders, where a 5-level point system and block schedule is used to facilitate and teach students the skills they will need to be successful in mainstream settings. This program was enhanced greatly when Dave and Scot (Executive Director at ASPIRE) met while working at the Lincoln Indian Center. Teaming Scot's background in experiential learning with Dave's in education and Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, they were able to offer students lessons in life that will far extend beyond any book or lecture.

Dave has also served on several committees in his career including Multicultural/Equity, School Improvement, Faculty Advisory, Character Counts, and a behavior/Counseling/Discipline stakeholder's group IDEA steering committee for the Nebraska State Department of Education. Working on these committees has allowed Dave to learn and grow as a professional. Still, Dave believes the greatest thing he has experienced in teaching is the youth he gets to work with. The varied backgrounds, strengths, experiences, and needs of each individual are what make education so rewarding to him.

When Dave does get the opportunity for some down time he is usually headed outdoors. His interests in the outdoors vary, but favorite past times include hiking, backpacking, hunting, biking, and kayaking. Of course, growing up in Nebraska, the winters didn't always allow him to be outside so he developed an affinity for reading and personal writing.

Dave's philosophy towards programming is a belief that people can achieve so much in life when they aren't held back by fears and weaknesses. However, weaknesses, their roots, or how to overcome them aren't always known. Nature exposes our fears and takes advantage of our weaknesses, but allows us to utilize our natural strengths to learn from these experiences and grow as a person.