1. Employment Objective
Secure a position at a college prepatory Catholic High School.
For the past 15 years, I have taught high school English at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Prior to that,
I taught English at Pope John II High School in Boca Raton. Students in my classes gain more than a love
of English; they also achieve successful scores on their PSAT. SAT and ACT exams. Consequently, many of
my students have earned National Merit distinction, and most have earned entrance to their first-choice
universities, and academic scholarships; I am very proud to have helped them, and that is why I come to
school everyday.
Education
Bachelor of Arts in English, with honors; Minor in Education, University of Florida, 1995. GPA in English
Major: 3.9.
Academic Employment History
August 2000-Present: High School English teacher, St. Thomas Aquinas High School. 2801 SW 12
Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 33312. (954) 581-0700.
Fifteen years as a teacher of the following classes: American Literature, American Literature Honors,
British Literature, British Literature Honors and World Literature. Classes include close reading skills of
a broad canon of literature as well as grammar skills, vocabulary acquisition, and research skills
including Internet and library research. I teach composition, including how to write formal essays in the
MLA format. I also teach PSAT and SAT classes during the school year and summer school.
2. August 1998-May 2000: High School English teacher, Pope John Paul II High School. 4001 North
Military Trail, Boca Raton, Florida, 33431. (561) 314-2100.
Teacher of: American literature, vocabulary acquisition, expository, argumentative, and creative writing,
as well as incisive critical thinking about literature. I left this school because I had the opportunity to
teach at one of the top 50 Catholic high schools in the USA, whose reputation (both on and off the football
field) is best understood in two words: St. Thomas.
Philosophy of Education
During the past 15 years at St. Thomas, I have grown to truly love my colleagues, my students and their
families. I have learned a great deal about methodology and fostering exceptional teacher-student
relationships through my experiences with extraordinary colleagues and students.
I am committed to my conviction that every student can learn. I have taught the full spectrum of
students: from the best and the brightest to the struggling. Each level of student ability has its own
teaching challenges and its own rewards for both teacher and learner. I believe a teacher must extend
opportunities for students to have personal one-on-one contact with the teacher. Calling on a particular
student in class, asking a student to stop by after school to review something, and simply sharing in his
and her own accomplishments (and sometimes failures) can create a relationship which students never
forget. My students learn that I am on their side, and that the tasks in front of them are achievable.
I encourage my students to be creative and take the initiative in their learning. Two years ago, my
students were assigned the mystery novel, The Dante Club, by Matthew Pearl. Based on Dante’s The
Inferno, this novel is a fantastic, historically accurate “who-done-it”. For this exercise, I turned the
students into super-sleuths. One of my students approached me because she could not discover the
identity of a character in real life. I suggested that she e-mail the author and as a result, my student
invited Mr. Pearl to visit our class, and he graciously did so. Suffice it to say, Matthew Pearl was a big hit
with the kids and my colleagues. It was a learning experience none of them will forget.
One way or the other, my students come to realize that I am FOR them. I WANT their success. If students
don’t get that message from a teacher, then learning becomes bogged down and impeded with
unnecessary issues. Effective teaching is a transaction—one of the most important transactions in life.
My students make me laugh and make me cry. I am involved with them. I will be teaching someone
something until I stop breathing.
Extra Curricular Activities
In addition to the advisor roles below, I have chaperoned bus trips, dances, overnight retreats, prepared
dinner with students for 130 guests for our annual Sedar dinner and orchestrated a range of events,
which fostered student involvement in the community. For the past 5 years, I have been the
co-moderator of our CARE Club, focusing on assisting and fundraising kids with cancer. To date, our club
has raised almost $15,000 from bake-sales and T-shirt sales.
I also have technology skills. This summer, I would have taught Marketable Blogging in the St. Thomas
Summer School program (flier attached). I am proficient in Blackboard, Smart Boards, Chrome Books,
3. PC’s and IPads. I have incorporated technology into my lessons for many years.
2003– 2007 Class Advisor, Sophomore Class, St. Thomas
This responsibility included advising the sophomore student leadership students, planning Homecoming
activities, which included a dinner dance for more than 1,000 students, and liaising with parents about
activities throughout the school year.
2007-2008Advisor/Leader for the Fairchild Challenge, St. Thomas
This advisor role was for a yearlong academic competition held in Miami, Florida, which focused on
multidisciplinary education using the environment as an integrating context for learning. Ten
competitive elements were involved, including community service, a research essay, a formal debate
about five local issues (mostly involving the Everglades and urban water conservation), an invention
using solar energy, and an inquiry into the controversial topics presented in Al Gore’s An Inconvenient
Truth. In this role I oversaw each competitive submission from St. Thomas. St. Thomas won four First
Place awards and five Honorable Mentions. Overall, St. Thomas placed sixth out of more than 50
participating public and private schools.
Non-Academic Employment History
I received my first education during 20 years of employment in the legal field, acquiring both legal and
life knowledge. I believe my law firm experience provided some of my first teaching skills: how to
perceive and articulate any side of an argument, how to handle all types of personalities, and how to
research case law. Once I stopped learning new things, I became a teacher. Today, literature and kids are
my teachers.
Ruden, McClosky, Smith, Schuster & Russell, P.A. Law Firm. 1989 – 1993.
Bankruptcy Paralegal for Lance H. Baker, Esq. and Jeffrey H. Beck, Esq., Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Fleming, O’Bryan & Fleming, P.A. Law Firm. 1987 – 1989.
Paralegal for Gary Barber, Esq., Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Holland & Knight, P.A. Law Firm. 1984-1987.
Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Paralegal for Irving R. Wolff, Esq. in both Miami and Fort Lauderdale,
Florida.
Sterling and Simon, P.A. Law Firm. 1981-1984.
Bankruptcy Paralegal for Harry M. Sterling, Esq., Denver, Colorado.
Student References
“I entered Ms. Borawski’s class as a foreign student. In only a few months, I learned 1,000 new vocabulary
words; I learned grammar skills, which dramatically improved my writing skills score; I wrote with
personality and grammatical flow, and I realized the beauty of the American culture and its effect on
4. literature. With this valuable information and the inspiration that I gained from Ms. Borawski, I completed
my journey toward bilingualism, the results of which were reflected on my SAT scores. I was accepted into
the college of my first choice, which only accepts the top 10% of graduating seniors." – Margarita
Corredor.
“I had the most trouble in the Critical Reading section of the SAT, scoring only a 580 the first time I took it.
Frustrated with my score, I decided to enroll in Ms. Borawski’s SAT class, where she taught me different
test-taking strategies and provided me with substantial guided practice. I realized that I was approaching
the test completely wrong; with a newfound confidence and much-improved test taking skills, I retook the
test and my Critical Reading score went up almost 200 points to a 770. With a much-improved overall score
(2140), I was accepted into many prestigious schools, including Vanderbilt University. I also was able to
receive substantial scholarship money, and I am currently at the University of Florida’s Honors Program on
a full tuition scholarship. Ms. Borawski taught me the skills I needed to show my true potential on the SAT.” -
Sarah Orfanedes.
Professional references available upon request.
