At Winslow Township High School, a tapestry of Rowan-influenced community exists among the educators. Located 30 minutes east from the University, Winslow Township High School employs a large number of Rowan grads. Their backgrounds, personal experiences and educational philosophies differ, but one commonality remains: they are Rowan Profs.
Their Rowan experiences helped to shape them into the educators they are today, whether those experiences were three years ago or three decades ago. The Rowan impact reverberates across their classrooms, offices and stages, to the students they support each and every day, year after year.
Here, six such Winslow educators open up about some of their most meaningful experiences at Rowan University.
Finding Confidence & Community
For Assistant Principal Krystin Gibson, ’99, BA Health & Exercise Science, Rowan provided both growth and belonging. “Rowan was a perfect place for me to grow academically and emotionally,” she recalls. Being exposed to peers with diverse perspectives sharpened her critical thinking and workplace readiness.
Much of that growth came through her involvement with Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated, one of the Divine Nine, historically African American Greek-letter fraternities and sororities. With a purpose different from what people perceive Greek life to be, Krystin shares that Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated introduced her to activism and community service.
“I visited shelters that housed babies with AIDS, and I helped them,” she says. “This was one of the most impactful, and best, college experiences I ever had,” she continues.
These experiences shaped Krystin’s purpose and sense of self, key elements she brings to her role today as an assistant principal within the same school in which she graduated from.
School counselor Kellianne O’Neill, ’21, BA Psychology, also found her path to confidence through Rowan’s community. For Kelli, it was her involvement within the John H. Martinson Honors College that served as her pivotal experience.
The Honors College hosts a peer mentoring program called BLAST (Bantivoglio Leadership and Service Training), which pairs upperclassmen Honors students with Honors freshmen as they navigate their first semester at Rowan.
“I actually changed my major three times during my first semester of college,” Kelli shares, as she struggled with identifying a professional direction, and a major, for herself.
At the conclusion of her participation as a mentee, Kelli signed up to become a BLAST mentor herself the following year.
Kelli’s role as a mentor within the Honors College changed the direction of her life.
She credits her experience as a mentor with helping her to find her voice and professional direction. “Being a BLAST mentor was the highlight of my whole experience at Rowan,” she says. It was through this experience that she figured out what she wanted to do with her life.
Kelli explains her lightbulb moment. “As soon as I started being a mentor I thought, ‘I want to do this. All the time. I want to do this,’” she says. With her focus sharpened, Kelli found her confidence. She declared psychology as her major and focused on achieving her goal of doing what she loved.
Leadership Lessons Beyond the Classroom
Discovering the individual, unique value within each Rowan student and helping the student connect their innate talents and passions to their own goals is how Rowan faculty and staff express leadership. Oftentimes this emerges organically, through the interpersonal relationships forged between faculty/staff and students.
Principal Kurtis Marella, ’97, Health & Exercise Science with a specialization in Athletic Training; ‘98 Physical Education Certificate points to his time on Rowan’s football team as a foundational experience.
The consistent leadership set by not only then-head coach K.C. Keeler, but also the entire coaching staff and the athletic trainers, set clear expectations. These expectations were not simply about following rules, rather they centered more on personal development and striving for personal excellence both on and off the field.
A football player throughout the entirety of his time at Rowan, Kurt reflects, “Through my experience with sports – and mainly through my experience with Rowan football team – I learned how to be responsible, accountable and how to deal with adversity. I learned how to work with people.” Those lessons stayed with him, beyond his time as a student.
Working with people is a core tenant of being a school principal, and Kurt brings his leadership to the very high school in which he himself graduated from.
Social studies teacher Sarah Busch ‘23 Master of Science in Teaching (MST) Social Studies did not intend to become a teacher when she set out to earn her bachelor’s degree in history. As such, for Sarah her master’s program was a fully immersive and comprehensive introduction to the teaching profession.
Sarah’s transformative Rowan experience was the after-class, meaningful conversations she had with the professor who taught her favorite class, Schools and Society: Foundations for Secondary Teaching.
“I would stay after class sometimes and we would talk about philosophers and writers who theorized about schools, what schools should be and what schools should look like,” she shares. Professor Jeremy Glatzer’s leadership, engagement and teaching style left a strong impression on Sarah as she readied herself to launch her own teaching career.
Lasting Mentorship
Mentorship relationships within the Rowan community continue beyond when a student crosses the stage to earn their degree. These relationships are authentic and true, which the students feel in their bones and carry in their hearts long after graduation.
Lasting mentorship helped these Winslow educators to see futures that they hadn’t imagined for themselves.
As a newly minted graduate, Kurt Marella started his career as an athletic trainer, before transitioning to becoming a teacher. Kurt credits his shifted career path to the continued mentorship he received from the then-coordinator of athletic training and sports medicine services, Chuck Whedon.
“Chuck convinced me to go back to school to earn my certificate in physical education, so that I could teach,” Kurt explains. “He said to me, ‘Kurt, it’ll make you more marketable. It’s something you need to do.’”
Kurt listened, and looking back, reflects, “When I got into education, I truly loved working with kids.” After earning his certificate, he served as a teacher before stepping into administration.
Mentorship within the Rowan family started even before enrollment for Raya Slotoroff, ‘23, Master of Science in Teaching (MST) Social Studies. For Raya, the phrase “Rowan family” is literal. Her first mentor in life – her mother – is not only a teacher and a Rowan grad, but also an MST alumna.
“My mom went through the program and had all these good things to say about how prepared it made her, so that was definitely an incentive to choose Rowan,” the social studies says of her mother’s guidance.
Finding her own Rowan path after the gentle guidance of her Rowan mentor mom, Raya says she, too, felt prepared for her profession because of the MST program. “They taught a lot about the more technical aspects of teaching that I had not considered before, such as disability inclusion and English language learner students,” she shares.
Meaningful Friendships
Making lifelong friendships is one of the top expectations that Rowan students have for a college education, according to 2024 research.
As Rowan Profs know, Rowan has a special way of feeling both like a campus large enough where anything is possible, as well as small enough where you cross paths with friendly faces on campus.
Whether the student’s experience is as an on campus resident, a commuter, an online student or a graduate student, Rowan Profs find their kindred spirits.
For Sarah Busch and Raya Slotoroff, friendship sparked when their MST program brought these two then-strangers together. Their familiarity with one another grew as they navigated their online classes side by side, but the pair agreed that they bonded in their in person class Schools and Society: Foundations for Secondary Teaching.
That bond was cemented when commencement approached. The friends decided to pick up their graduation robes together at the bookstore. “We didn’t realize how long the walk would be from our building, James Hall, all the way to Barnes & Noble on Rowan Boulevard,” Raya says of the one-mile trek. “In our heels, fresh out of student teaching, we decided let’s take that walk. It was miserable. But we saw the campus!” she adds.
Hired at the same school shortly after graduation, their friendship continues to this day.
Krystin Gibson’s experience demonstrates the long-lasting and impactful nature of friendships that blossomed at Rowan.
“The people I met through Alpha Kappa Alpha, Incorporated became my forever friends, and they are to this day,” says Krystin. “It was my second family.”
As a 1999 graduate, Krystin is now witnessing a second generation of Rowan friendships. As her friends across the Divine Nine had children who are now entering college themselves, Krystin notices that those now-grown children are joining the same organizations that are so impactful to their parents.
Discovering a Calling
For many of these educators, Rowan was integral to supporting their epiphanies about what professional paths they should take.
One such educator is Savanna Heffner ‘11 Master of Science in Teaching (MST) Theatre. When she was a high school senior, Savanna had a spark of enlightenment. “I played Maria in Sound of Music and I worked with a lot of the young people who were cast as the von Trapp children,” Savanna says. “I really loved taking on the role of guiding them and encouraging them. That is what made me think, ‘Maybe I should pursue directing.’”
But when she started college, Savanna declared elementary education as her major. She explains that, from a purely logical perspective, it made more sense to major in elementary education as there are more job openings for elementary education teachers than for theatre teachers.
However, when the NJ STARS scholarship recipient transferred to Rowan at the beginning of her junior year, she changed her major. She declared theatre, cementing her professional direction.
It was through one of Dr. Elisabeth Hostetter’s contemporary theatre classes that she gained clarity and confidence in her professional calling. She says of the class, “It really helped me with directing because we focused a lot on script analysis and understanding what motivates the character.”
For Savanna, when she took the stage at Winslow Township High School, it was a return to the stage where it all began: she, too, is a Winslow alum.
Leading the next generation through theatre, Savanna’s work was recognized recently at the Southern New Jersey Cappies, a program that celebrates high school theatre and journalism. Winslow took home the awards for Best Musical, Best Set and Best Female Vocalist.
Elaborating on her epiphany when she became a BLAST mentor, school counselor Kellianne O’Neill credits her academic advisor with helping her to understand her calling. “I knew I wanted to work with young people and to help them find their way. But I wasn’t sure what career that was,” she says. “I went to my advisor with my tale of woe of not knowing what to do, and she told me that I should be a guidance counselor. It was a lightbulb moment and, from that moment, I told myself, ‘OK, that’s the plan.’”
She reflects on that period of uncertainty in her life, and the support she received along the way to help her to discover her calling. “It was a tough road there for a second, not knowing what I wanted to do. Isn’t it weird how every kid thinks they’re totally alone in that feeling? That something is wrong with them? Every single one. My whole job is helping kids understand that they’re not alone,” she explains. “I have that conversation 15 times a day, reassuring them.”
While every student follows their own individual path, Kelli brings to the table relatability. She is a Winslow graduate and is open about her own uncertainty when she was a teenager.
Rowan’s Lasting Legacy
Across their stories and experiences, one theme emerges: Rowan prepared these educators not just for jobs, but for lives of meaning and purpose. Whether through sports, Greek life, classroom experiences or mentorship, Rowan provided the tools, relationships and confidence that shaped who they are today.
Each of them answered their professional calling to inspire and guide the next generation, bringing their full selves to the table to do so, including their foundational student experiences at Rowan University.
Alumni Success Stories
Explore how our alumni propel their Rowan University education into lasting success, as highlighted through our alumni success series. From Rowan University student to lifelong member of the Rowan University Alumni Association, Rowan Profs thrive at every stage of their journey. Go Profs!
About Rowan University
A top 100 national public research institution, Rowan University offers bachelor’s through doctoral and professional programs in person and online to nearly 25,000 students. The fastest-growing public research institution in the Northeast and among the country’s top 10 fastest-growing, Rowan offers a thriving multidisciplinary environment with a strong emphasis on practical research in health care, engineering, science and business, while ensuring excellence in undergraduate education. Nationally recognized for innovation, high-quality, affordable education and public-private partnerships, Rowan is one of two universities in the U.S. to offer M.D., D.O. and D.V.M. degree programs.