Great Grads - Sara Roffino

MS, Education

Sara Roffino was mulling a career in journalism when a stint with a nonprofit than ran employment workshops for young people drew her to consider teaching. This fall, the Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, resident is headed to Portugal to teach for a year on a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.

"I am ecstatic!" exclaims Sara, a New York City Teaching Fellow who is receiving an M.S. in Education with honors. "The best and most inspiring teachers I have had are the ones who were able to bring their life's adventures back into the classroom. This is what I hope to do."

She discovered her love for teaching after graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a B.A. in Journalism. "Right after college, I got a job at a nonprofit working with low-income teenagers doing employment skills and financial literacy workshops," she recalls. "I realized that I really enjoy working with teenagers and from there I became interested in teaching."

A ninth grade English teacher at the Urban Assembly Media High School in Manhattan, she leaves for Coimbra, a Portuguese university city, in October to begin her Fulbright program. There she'll develop and implement a curriculum for English language learners. She will also build on the research she did for her master's degree.

"My research was focused on the emotional wellness and stress management skills of teenagers involved in a yoga class at the school where I teach," explains Sara, a yoga practitioner for eight years. "I am interested in studying attitudes and approaches surrounding the social/emotional development of adolescents and the ways in which this varies in different cultures."  

 

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 "The best and most inspiring teachers I have had are the ones who were able to bring their life's adventures back into the classroom."
- Sara Roffino