From an options trader to a Macroeconomics teacher, Mr. Carity knows how to apply skills from past experiences to new ones, and hopes to help his students do the same.

Teaching is his second job, and he has been doing it for five years now.

“My first job out of college was an options trader on the CBOE, which is the Chicago Board Options Exchange, and I traded for the company City Group,” he said. “I did that for 11 years prior.”

During his first year in the trading industry, he was paired up with a veteran trader and then started trading on the floor for the next 10 years, Carity said.

Although he was happy with this job as a trader, Carity said he has always been a passionate learner and teaching is something that he’s always aspired to do.

He credits most of his inspiration to be a teacher to his mother and teachers from his own school experience.

“I can remember from a young age going into my mom’s school and just seeing the way that she worked with the students,” Carity said. “My mother is an amazing woman and somebody who really inspires me.”

He said that his teachers inspired and taught him that the ability to teach others is rewarding in itself.

Carity went to Northeastern Illinois University to get his secondary teaching degree and took on a student teaching job at Lane before he was hired as a full time teacher.

“For me, being inside the classroom is the happiest I’ve ever been professionally,” Carity said.

He wants his class to be an ongoing discussion where his students feel they can share their opinions on the material that he is teaching.

“I consider the atmosphere in my classroom to be loose,” Carity said. “I try to teach in a way that isn’t boring.”

Emma Fraterrigo, Div. 874, took Carity’s Honors World Studies class in 8th grade and is currently taking AP Macroeconomics.

Fraterrigo said that for a class containing many lectures, Carity does his best to engage his students so the class is never boring.

“He loves his job so much and that makes his class more enjoyable and easier to pay attention to what he’s teaching,” Fraterrigo said.

Connecting to his students is also a big part of Carity’s teaching style. His small gestures such as asking his students what they did over the weekend help him to understand his students in a better way.

“You can’t connect [the] material to your students until you connect with them in general,” he said.

Carity’s leadership style as Department Chair mirrors his teaching style. Mr. McNaughton, AP Psychology and Honors US History teacher, said that Carity really makes an effort to help other people and make sure everyone is successful.

“He does a great job,” McNaughton said. “We are a big department — we have many different courses and it’s hard to keep it all together, but he does.”

McNaughton said he notices that Carity’s students are happy to see him, and he is just as happy to see them.

Carity said his favorite part about being a teacher is his students.

“You guys are by far my favorite part about being a teacher,” he said. “The students here at Lane are absolutely phenomenal. I don’t have a bad day here — even the days where I get frustrated, I go home with a smile because you guys make this job so much fun.”