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Meisha Floyd Bordofske Delta Phi - Northeastern State University
High School English Teacher, Broken Arrow Public Schools
Which of the Delta Zeta shared values resonates with you the most? Empowerment
How did you discover your passion for what you do, and what opportunities have helped shape your career?
Growing up, I used to play Sunday School with my three little sisters, where I would set up desk-like objects in our bedroom, and print off coloring sheets to learn lessons from. I should have guessed then I would be a teacher, but I never knew what I wanted to be growing up. I just knew that I wanted to help others. No one in my family had attended college, and I knew that no matter what I did, I wanted to find a profession that would allow me to help other kids do what no one else before them had. I grew up in a broken home, full of fear, trauma and pain, and the only reason I survived was because I had teachers who cared about me as a person far more than me as just a student. My high school leadership teacher, Jason Jedamski, is the reason I not only went to college, but did so without a penny of debt. He helped me find a school with an excellent education program and helped me apply for the scholarship that ultimately allowed me to attend college.
I have been able to be the teachers I had to so many of my students. I am the one they call when they are getting married, deploying, crying or get their dream job.
Who has been an invaluable mentor for your professional career? What did you learn from them?
My teacher mentor has always been my dear friend Brenda Lewis. She has taught longer than I have been alive, and her wisdom from each year has helped me stay within this profession. Every time I have ever thought of crying, quitting or stopping the things I do, she reminds me of my why. Her best piece of advice she ever gave me was “Just show up. In ten years your students won’t remember the lessons you taught every day, but they’ll remember when you fed them, came to their games, came to their jobs and loved them.” I stand by this piece of advice every day.
What words of wisdom or advice do you live by?
Professionally: “In the end, your students never cared if you were the perfect teacher. They cared that you showed up for them each day and that you gave them your best self, no matter if that meant your best self was 100 percent or not.”
Personally: Life is not about who you once were. It’s about who you are now, and who you have the potential to be.
What is the most impactful book you have read, or podcast you have listened to, that relates to you professionally? What made it so impactful?
“I Wish My Teacher Knew” by Kyle Schwartz.
After my first year teaching, I was exhausted mentally and emotionally. No one had prepared me for the traumas my students had endured, the love they needed and the way my heart would break for them. So many books and podcasts on teaching focus on teachers, and what they can do to teach more effectively, or get higher test scores. However, this book focused solely on what students wish teachers knew and how it changed their learning when they did. I was so impacted by this that it transformed my teaching style and the relationships my students and I had. Knowing what they, as people, needed before they, as students, could learn changed teaching for me.
How do you make sure you stay connected with your professional network?
I am a part of so many incredible teaching organizations through my district and state that have not only allowed me to continue professional growth, but find and foster relationships with my Delta Zeta sisters who are also educators. My first interview for teaching was with a Delta Zeta, and five years later, she sat across from me at our district Aspiring Administrators and Leaders training.
How have friendships helped you professionally? Is there a friend (or Delta Zeta sister) that has been behind you every step of the way on your career journey?
Teaching has given me the most incredible friendships. My two best friends teach alongside me each day. Hannah is my soulmate/sister/best friend, and I would have never known her had we not been placed in classrooms next door to each other. She has changed my life through her constant love and support. She is also the oldest of four girls, and we have battled many of the same struggles. Knowing that even on my worst or hardest days teaching I can walk next door and hold her hand, or get a hug, has made every bad moment of teaching 100 times better. She and I get to love all of our high school students together and have learned so much from each other along the way. I couldn’t do any of this without her. She’s my biggest cheerleader.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?
Volunteer at my church, craft, stroll through Target and love my corgi.