by Madeleine Johnson, Social Editor
Anne Borbely realized she was destined for the educational field even before she started playing school with her dolls and her somewhat reluctant younger brothers.
Though she admits there was a brief period when she fancied a more unconventional occupational route.
”I always knew I was going to be a teacher,” she said. “Though when I was 5, I was very serious about becoming a cowgirl.”
Nearly 35 years of teaching and two school districts later, Ms. Borbely, a Monmouth Junction resident, made the bittersweet decision to retire from her position as Crossroads North Middle School’s sixth- and seventh-grade basic skills language arts teacher.
”I’ve been a teacher since I was 22 and now I’m 57,” Ms. Borbely said. “It’s my identity, so I feel a little lost. I’m excited because I know things will develop, but there’s still a big vacuum at the moment.”
Ms. Borbely also taught at the Cambridge Elementary and Crossroads North Middle schools after beginning her career as a student teacher in Edison, where she taught for 11 years.
But when a position in the South Brunswick School District opened up, Ms. Borbely jumped at the opportunity to work in her hometown.
”I always wanted to be here,” she said. “There was never any question that this was where I wanted to start out.”
Ms. Borbely was primarily interested in the freedom and flexibility offered to South Brunswick teachers.
”There, a teacher can be very innovative and take as much initiative to do the kind of programs that were exciting to me,” she said. “If you had a vision of how you wanted to teach a class, the township encouraged that. I did a tremendous amount of creating programs designed for the children I happened to be working with, and that would not have been the case in many other townships and districts.”
Despite her passion for creating original and creative lessons, she originally underestimated just how much the students took her enthusiastic words to heart.
”When you teach younger children, it can be a little frightening,” Ms. Borbely said. “I didn’t realize they really are listening. I just didn’t realize the power of my words until I had taught for a few more years, that sometimes it was as if God had spoken to them. I was a little awestruck.”
Though she added that working with younger students was “wonderful for the ego because you get so much affection and respect.”
”It’s great for the self-esteem because they say things like ‘You’re the best teacher,’ “ Ms. Borbely said.
The most rewarding aspect of working with children wasn’t the compliments, however, but the wisdom she gained from her students.
”There’s a lot of delight that comes with teaching younger children,” she said. “They look at the world with such a fresh approach. I got such a kick out of it. They can think outside the box since they’re not old enough to be conventional, so everything they discover is so new.”
Some of her students even carried the joy of the discoveries they made in Ms. Borbely’s classroom with them as they made decisions about their own futures.
”I just got a letter from a student who remembered a project from long ago, about weather and tracking satellites online,” she said. “She told me that she just graduated and now she’s a meteorologist. When I do hear from students, it just makes me feel like ‘Gosh darn it, those kids really were listening!’ It’s exciting.”
While Ms. Borbely plans on remaining active in South Brunswick, saying goodbye to the job she said defined her life hasn’t been easy.
”I didn’t retire and say ‘Hooray!’ but I think it was the right time to go,” she said. “I’ll find a way of contributing to the community, I have no doubt, and I’ll move on, but it was hard and very sad to leave.”
While saying goodbye to a job she loved was difficult, Ms. Borbely is simply happy that her lifelong ambition came to fruition.
”I just am so grateful I was able to serve the community by teaching,” she said. “It was very, very good to me and I was happy in my job. I’m very grateful to have that opportunity, and I just hope I did enough for my students.”
