Alumna Spotlight
Shaina Rafal '01

Shaina Rafal comes home to teach, coach and give back. We recently caught up with Shaina as she finished up her second year as Ursuline's Middle School Language Arts and Religion teacher.

Let’s start small. What are your interests?
I love to write. Going through the Middle School’s Writing Workshop here at UA with Mrs. Voitus as my mentor, I found a real passion in my life. I still have all my old portfolios, and my students get a real kick when I show them what drafting pieces entailed before laptops. “That’s right,” I tell them, “To cut and paste, we literally had to use scissors and glue sticks!” I love writing short-short stories- the kinds that have a real zinger, moral, or punch line at the end. And my favorite audience to write to is young adults- pieces my students might like. And also personal memoirs.

And when you’re not writing?
The great outdoors. I love kayaking, hiking, and biking. I’ve hiked Canyon de Chelley in Arizona twice on service trips to the Navajo Reservation in college, and I’ve kayaked off of Deer Isle in Maine out in the open water. My personal goal is to participate in the Bike to the Bay for MS. My father is affected by this disease, so it’s an important cause in my life.

And the Phillies. I’m diehard. Have been since I was a kid. This summer I went with my mother and 84 year old grandma to Spring Training in Clearwater. We brought a sign that read: “3 Generations of Burrell’s Girls.” Pat Burrell (the Phil’s left fielder) got a real kick out of it and gave us a wink and a wave.

And lastly: Cooking. But not just actual cooking- also, watching cooking. The Food Network really sucks you in. It’s entertaining and educational. And I’ve found it to be a great classroom tool as well. For example, when we do “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote in 8th grade LA, I bring in a special on fruitcake, since that’s the basis of the story.

Where did you go to college and what did you study?
I attended Fordham: New York City’s Jesuit University. It was a beautiful, traditional college campus surrounded by one of the most exciting places in the world- NYC! I was the only person from my graduating class at UA to go to New York. This was great for me because I went from thriving in a small environment at UA to applying my leadership skills and classroom-confidence to a larger environment. And it worked! I studied Communication and Media Studies with a concentration in Journalism and Writing. Basically, I was looking for a major that would allow me to continue exploring my passion for writing that was fostered in Middle School with Mrs. Voitus. I took such fascinating courses- such as Screenwriting, The Films of Alfred Hitchcock (that one was scary!), The Comic Voice (where I had to do a stand-up routine as a final exam- even scarier than Hitchcock!), and my absolute favorite courses, Fiction Writing Workshops.

Eighth Grade Authors' Night

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Where did teaching enter in?
One word: Jamaica. The day after graduating college, I hopped on a plane with other Fordham students and spent my first few weeks in the real world in Kingston, Jamaica. Here, education found me in the most raw, beautiful ways. First, there were the 3 year olds in the Riverton neighborhood, located in the city’s dump. After the Headstart program, few continue on in education. While reading to some of these toddlers, a little girl crawled through a barbed wire fence. She was 9 years old, it was a school day, but she did not attend a school; she craved hearing the story. Then a 17 year old girl did the same. They wanted to learn, and I started to fully understand the gift of education- the beauty of connection between book and child, and teacher and student. Later teaching at St. Margaret’s school, which was a hut exposed to the elements that passed as a Middle School, I taught 12-16 year old boys and girls the basics of reading. I found that “hangman” was an engaging method to get through to them, and I realized that with such innovation, learning could be fun- and I could have something to do with it. I wanted to teach. I wanted others to have the outlet that writing provided me in my Middle School years. So it was on to the Graduate School of Education at Fordham, and after one semester, I got the call that changed everything- the invitation to teach back where it all began: Middle School Writing Workshop at UA- with Mrs. Voitus!

How is it teaching at the school you went to?
Well, while I still have trouble calling my teachers by their first names, it’s a thrill walking into the teachers’ lounge and bouncing ideas off of those who were such integral parts of my own education. At one end of the table is Mrs. Hickey, my French teacher for 5 years who shared her beloved Paris with me and the other AP French students our senior year, and when Sr. Betty pops in for a little, I flash back to when I went to New Orleans with the two of them for our Student Council trip. Speaking of Sr. Betty, getting to be on the Adult Leader side of the Kairos retreat is a true blessing. I’ve experienced this retreat from every angle (retreatant, student leader, adult leader), and it remains one of the most profound experiences in my life. Also, I am appreciative of the support I get from every member of the Middle School teaching staff- they’re incredible, passionate, and a dream crew to be part of. And teaching the students at UA, being part of their lives and seeing them grow as writers and young women, is the real highlight.

We’ve seen you on the sidelines, too. Tell us about it.
Coach Rafal. Or as some of them like to say, “Raf-eye-elle”. From coaching the High School hockey team into their winning record and seeing talented girls make all-conference and state teams, to motivating the swim team to swim “like there’s a shark behind you!”, and most recently the highlight of the Middle School softball team making it to the finals, it’s a thrill and an honor to be involved with my students in other aspects of their lives. The respect I receive is incredible and touching, and I’m proud to coach teams that share my commitment to hard work and sportsmanship.

Do you still keep in touch with your fellow UA graduates?
Absolutely. They remain some of my closest friends. And if there’s one thing I can say about all of them, it’s how important they still hold Serviam in their lives. Whether they are teachers themselves, business women in Manhattan mentoring kids, organizing community gardens in urban areas, or working passionately at developing the new Serviam Academy for Girls, I am proud to be their friends. Being back at UA has reminded me of what a blessing this place has been in my life.