From Wall Street To Cresskill

Mr. Jason Carini, Cresskill High School’s new business teacher

Every student ponders about their success in the future, wondering what they can amount to. For Mr. Carini, Cresskill’s very own Business Law teacher, his eyes were set squarely on Wall Street from the very outset. His childhood aspirations lay not only in becoming a business teacher, but also a trader. 

Mr. Carini grew up in Harrington Park, attending Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, and later double-majored in industrial management and economics at Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating from Carnegie Mellon, Mr. Carini went off to work on Wall Street. There, he focused on fixed income trading and investment banking.

After 23 years on Wall Street, Mr. Carini brought that knowledge and experience to the classroom. Prior to coming to Cresskill, he took up a position as a substitute teacher at Northern Valley Demarest, Northern Valley Old Tappan, and Harrington Park Grade School, “to see if this was something [he] felt [he] would not just be good at but would be able to reach to the students too.” Now as a full time teacher, he says “he really enjoys it and actually loves it.” 

Under Mr. Carini’s direction, MCP Business Law draws on regular, student-driven discussions as well as a variety of interactive projects to keep students engaged in the learning process. Currently, Mr. Carini teaches three periods of Business Law. In time, he aspires to expand the scope of the overall program: in particular, he envisions a program in which students can enrich their knowledge of business and finance with courses in investment, macroeconomics, and microeconomics.

Students that are a part of his Business Law class all enjoy Mr. Carini’s style of teaching. Junior Alex Riccardo stated that he “loves Mr. Carini” because he “cares for his students.” When asked about how Mr. Carini is as a teacher, Riccardo said, “He does a good job as a teacher. [I] wouldn’t be able to suspect that he is a first year teacher [and he] adapts really well in Cresskill.”

Mr. Carini’s life does not fully revolve around teaching MCP Business Law at Cresskill High School. Outside of teaching, he devotes a substantial amount of his time to the Rutgers Alternate Route program. He also makes time for his family, friends, and girlfriend, and occasionally takes time to himself to keep old interests alive (in particular, Mr. Carini continues to dabble here and there in independent trade). Managing such a hectic life schedule is no easy task, but—having been through Wall Street and back—Mr. Carini is capable of doing it all.