Our school boasts many teachers with amazing talents. Mr. Wes Lacaze and Mr. William Ferris are avid surfers. Mrs. Sharon Stellmach makes her own essential oils. Mrs. Summer Cozzens and Mr. Lee Cooper are accomplished musicians. Featured here are three of our teachers who are published authors. 

Mr. Jason Borte

“In the beginning I wrote because I had a family and needed to make money, and I enjoyed writing so much that it never felt like work,” said Technology Foundations teacher, Jason Borte. “That’s what you look for in a career.”

Borte was 25 the first time he thought about professionally writing. 

“It always came easy to me in school, like I’d wait until the last minute to write a paper and get a decent grade,” said Borte. 

When he wrote articles for surf magazines, and they started to pay him to travel the world, he realized that it was an “incredible way to make a living.”

 “I started writing for surf magazines in the ‘90s when I finished college,” said Borte. 

His work- in addition to articles in surf magazines- includes his two books, Pipe Dreams- the autobiography of Kelly Slater, “The greatest surfer ever” and The Kooks Guide to Surfing, which are available on Amazon and in libraries. 

Pipe Dreams tells the story of six-time world surfing champion Kelly Slater’s triumph over adversity. The Kooks Guide to Surfing is a comic guide to surfing. A “kook” is “one of those guys on surfboards who just don’t get it yet” according to the book.

Borte also has a blog named, How Surfing Ruined My Life, but he hasn’t been updating it recently.

“I obviously don’t think it ruined my life; it’s still my favorite thing in the world,” said Borte. 

Borte says he has a lot of ideas for future writing, but he is finding it difficult to find time to write. 

NJROTC CWO, Ronald J McMiller Jr

NJROTC CWO, Ronald J McMiller Jr has published three books.

“My books are memoirs,” said McMiller. 

He originally started writing by accident and just kept going. 

“When you’ve got a story of your own don’t just start writing, it takes time; it’s a legacy that you leave for generations and generations and if that’s what you want to do, then write it,” said McMiller.

It took him about a year to write his first book titled My 34 Day Memoir of Haiti; he wrote it on a Blackberry telephone.

It was “day by day activities in Haiti during the earthquake,” said McMiller. 

My 34 Day Memoir of Haiti ended up being published in 2010 in 20 different countries. 

He also has another book called, Chicago developed me: The Navy Made Me a Man.

This book’s description on Amazon says this about the book: “Ron was raised by two families, his mother, and his street family. He writes about his near life-changing events that have not allowed him to be deterred by his background with its attendant history of poverty, violence, and lawlessness. He writes about how his battles were not of weapons, but the mind, challenging himself that nothing is impossible. His tour in the Navy made him a man as he writes about the countries, leaders, and mentors that have helped shape and mold him into the man he is today.”  

Chicago developed me: The Navy Made Me a Man is a memoir that hits home and shows McMiller’s true love for his country and family.

McMiller’s third book, Empowerment Through Creativity is about traveling the world which was a lifelong dream of McMillers. 

“I have experienced a lot in terms of the experiences in these countries and cities that I have visited through the years,.” said McMiller. “Cultural awareness is one of the most important aspects that I have been able to learn and hence I have come to a realization that indeed different cities from different countries have uniqueness when it comes to art, food, sculpture and the people. In this regard, lifestyles, and the general way of life varies from one city to the other. Empowerment through Creativity is a book of short stories and art that I have had the honor of collecting through my years of traveling.”

Mrs. Kathleen Trace

English teacher, Kathleen Trace has always loved writing. 

“As soon as I was able to write sentences, I was writing stories,” said Trace. 

She started writing her first novel in 2003 during a novel writing class at William and Mary. In 2008, she spent a summer studying creative writing at Oxford and vowed to finish the novel, which she did.

“Writing is a labor of love. Even if no one else ever sees your work, there is beauty in writing it,” said Trace. 

It took her 10 years to envision, write, revise, and publish her novel Have Mercy. 

The teaster on the back of Have Mercy reads: “People, their oddities and their ordinariness, fascinate Samantha. She is completing her doctorate in neuro-psychology when she takes on the clinical study of Maria, an eighty-eight year old woman with inconsistent personalities and no verifiable past. Sam has no idea that this patient will ultimately lead her to cheat on the man she loves, question the person she is, and kill in the name of mercy.” 

Trace also has a Non-Fiction book called A Wannabe Teacher’s Guide: Getting Hired, Having Fun, and Staying Sane. In this book, Trace explains how to survive and thrive as a fledgling educator. She says it’s perfect for college students considering a career in teaching or career switchers. 

“It’s an easy read, low key, doesn’t take itself too seriously,” said Trace. “I consider it an anti-textbook.”

Her work can be found on Amazon and the Kindle store. 

She currently has another novel, “simmering” in her brain and is just having a hard time finding time to write it. 

“I’m pining to write a young adult dystopia,” said Trace.