Anastasia and mentor, Keith Vire, at the Honors Research Symposium
Author: Anastasia Borowski | Major: Special Education | Semester: Spring 2025
Mentor: Dr. Keith Vire, Department of Education
Semester of Research: Spring 2025
Future Plans: I plan to become a special education teacher, using experiences like Breakthrough to develop culturally responsive, student-centered practices that support life-long learning and inclusion.
My research is rooted in my experience as a teaching fellow with Breakthrough, a national organization that supports first-generation college-bound students through academic programming and a deep culture of mentorship. I worked directly with incoming 9th graders, leading science and art classes, while also serving as a mentor and advocate. My project explores how this unique structure, where college students serve as near-peer educators, fosters long-term student success. It also highlights how various leadership roles within the organization, from instructional coaches to directors, contribute to Breakthrough’s powerful and collaborative model.
This work is not only personal but practical. It sheds light on how programs like Breakthrough prepare both students and future educators, making it especially relevant for anyone interested in teaching, youth development, or education.
The inspiration for my research came directly from my summer internship. Breakthrough quickly became more than just a place to teach, but a community. I experienced the importance of consistent support, high expectations, and genuine connection in shaping young people’s futures. I wanted to better understand what makes this model so effective, not just from my perspective but from the many roles that bring the program to life.
Through my time as a teaching fellow, I saw how high expectations paired with high support can truly transform students’ academic confidence. I learned how to build lessons based off of set curriculum, manage a classroom, and form real relationships with students and families. Breakthrough’s structure, complete with instructional coaches, tailored training, and built-in feedback, taught me how professional development can be both rigorous and affirming.
On a personal level, I discovered how deeply I care about educational access and how passionate I am about becoming the kind of teacher who listens, adapts, and leads with empathy. My experience confirmed that the challenges of teaching are worth it and that mentorship is one of the most powerful tools in education.
Balancing my roles as both teacher and learner was one of the most difficult aspects of the experience. The days were long with eight hours of teaching, lesson planning in the evenings, and constant reflection. It was easy to feel overwhelmed. What helped was leaning on my community, including my instructional coach, fellow teaching fellows, and the Breakthrough staff who believed in me and reminded me of the bigger picture.
Another challenge was learning how to reach every student. In one of my classes, I had students with a wide range of learning and communications styles. As a special education major, this pushed me to differentiate my instruction on the spot, an invaluable skill I’ll carry into my future classroom.
Dr. Vire helped me stay on top of my project and research with constant communication and meetings when needed. He answered any questions I came across through my research period and encouraged me and the work that I was doing. This project would not have been able to be completed without his support.
My instructional coach at Breakthrough was also instrumental. She met with me regularly to review my lesson plans, troubleshoot classroom management issues, and offer feedback on my growth as an educator. Her mentorship modeled the very kind of relationship I hope to have with my students one day.
Next, I will be teaching at Breakthrough again this summer and then moving to Madrid, Spain in September to be an English language teacher.