Lyon Virostko 32 Mountain View Blvd, Apt. 3C Billings, MT 59101 (406) 208-5449 [email protected]

A. Crosby Kennett Jr./Sr. High School
176 Main St., Conway, NH 03818 -- (603) 447-6364

Kennett Jr./Sr. High School serves approximately 1,200 students in grades 7-12. I taught three courses per semester within a daily 90-minute block schedule. Each semester I was assigned one section of Freshman English and two sections of Essay Writing (grades 11 and 12).

During the course of each semester, I taught units to the freshman covering the elements of fiction, critical thinking skills, writing conventions, and research and resume writing. In addition we read and studied John Steinbeck's novel Of Mice and Men as a class and participated in a regular independent reading workshop.

I structured the Essay Writing courses as writing workshops in which students independently chose topics and approaches for their own writing, assisted by regular mini-lessons and small-group work in various essay formats and conventions.

In addition to my teaching duties, I also volunteered to assist the English department and the computer coordinator to trouble-shoot and maintain their computers.

I provided part-time academic assistance for one of the university's students with cerebral palsy. My responsibilities included typing and study support. I would take dictation as he orally composed his papers, and I would handle papers and books for him as he studied in order to help him work more efficiently.

Barnes & Noble superstores provide coffee shops for their customers to enjoy while browsing for books. While working toward my BA in English, I worked in the B&N coffee shop, making espresso drinks and talking literature with the customers. I enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of customers' literary experience by offering them friendly service.

The Billings Gazette provides local and regional news coverage with an approximate daily circulation of 57,000. While attending MSU-Billings, I wrote local and regional box score stories and statistics for the sports department and occasionally reported on local sporting events. Click to view writing samples.

ComputerLand of Billings provided sales and support of both Macintosh and PC computer systems. My responsibilities included sales and support of Macintosh computers, for which I received Apple certified sales and support training.

Computer Lines, Inc. provided sales and support of Apple Mactinosh hardware and software to a wide market across South Central Montana and Northern Wyoming, specializing in support and training for local and regional primary and secondary schools. With a small staff, everyone was required to diversify their knowledge and skills as much as possible; however, my responsibilities focused primarily on providing support and consultation to Macintosh internet and desktop publishing users.

Consumer's Press publishes a weekly advertising newspaper. I worked for the summer as a desktop publisher using Quark Express for the Macintosh. I sometimes created ads based on paste-up copy provided by the graphic artist, but was more often given rough directions by sales representatives and created ads from scratch.

Hampden Academy is a public high school serving approximately 740 students in grades 9-12. I worked there for six months in two capacities simultaneously: as a student teacher and as a long-term substitute English teacher. As a student teacher, I taught courses in 9th and 10th grade general English. As a substitute teacher, I was hired to teach two sections of British Literature for 11th and 12th grade students.

As part of student teaching, I also conducted an action research project in collaboration with the school's special education Resource Center. The project analyzed the use of the Resource Center's extended hours to determine if funding for these additional hours should be continued.

The Golden Belle Dining Room is one of Billings' finest dining establishments, serving a four-star gourmet menu. I worked as a table busser and dessert chef, working closely with a single waiter each night to provide an elegant atmosphere and individualized service. I also handled room service orders for all meal shifts.

Leavitt Area High School is a public high school serving approximately 780 students in grades 9-12, drawn from three separate rural communities. The English and Social Studies Departments of the school were combined into a single "network", which fostered greater collaboration across the two disciplines. I taught courses in composition, focusing on different modes of expository writing (cause/effect, comparison/contrast, argument, etc.) and on refining students' sense of style to match purpose and audience. In addition, I also taught sections of 10th-grade world literature that built on the themes of power and fate vs. free will in human society, as expressed in a variety of literature, including Homer's The Odyssey and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, among others.

The Maxwell International Baha'i School is a private, religious boarding school operated as an agency of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Canada, combining spiritual and material education in a holistic model. As part of the Baha'i Year of Service Program, I worked as a volunteer, performing a wide range of services ranging from kitchen and custodial work to academic tutoring and ESL instruction.

Molly Ockett Middle School serves 378 students in grades 6-8. As an educational technician III, I worked with several eighth-grade students diagnosed with emotional disabilities to assist them in mainstream classrooms. I provided academic assistance according to the mandate of their Individual Education Plans and served as a mentor in handling the emotional stresses and challenges that they faced each day in school.

I also assisted the alternative education teacher with his program on a daily basis. I was frequently called upon to assist with technology projects, such as making multi-media presentations and digital movies, and to supervise outings.

I often worked closely with the classroom teachers to assist all students in the classroom and greatly enjoyed the opportunity to extend my learning across the curriculum.

In addition to my regular duties, I enjoyed helping faculty members with improving their technology skills. I taught in-service Macintosh tutorials for several members of the 7th-grade faculty and assisted the new technology teacher with setting up a Windows workgroup in his classroom.

The Computer Annex of MSU-Billings provides access to Macintosh, PC and Unix workstation computers for use by the faculty, staff and students of the college. My job as a lab assistant involved helping users familiarize themselves with the basic uses of these systems for word processing and a wide assortment of other academic software. I also had the responsibility for trouble-shooting the Mactinosh AppleShare network and teaching orientation workshops for both students and faculty on the use of the Internet.

The University Relations Office of MSU-Billings provides news media and publishing support for the various departments on campus. My responsibilities included upgrading the office's Macintosh workgroup network, which included nine Macs of various ages and capacities. I consolidated their scattered mailing lists into a single FileMaker Pro 3.0 database, accessible over the network server and established a digital photograph archiving system using Extensis Fetch and FileMaker. In addition to implementation, I also trouble-shot software problems and provided training on Adobe PageMaker, FileMaker Pro and Microsoft Word.

A separate aspect of my duties included writing copy for press releases and news articles, designing course schedule webpages, and assistance with ad layout and design for advertisers in the campus newsletter.

Orono High School serves approximately 400 students in grades 9 through 12. I substituted for teachers in various subjects, including physics, chemistry, music, special education, wood shop, history, business and English. I particularly enjoyed working with students in special education programs and classes, especially with those students labeled "at risk" or "learning disabled".

The Weekly Newspaper is a community newspaper mailed free-of-charge to over 38,000 households in the Greater Bangor area. It reports on community news and publishes a calendar of community events and activities, such as concerts, theatre performances, lectures and discussions, support groups, and museum offerings. I was hired to assist the editor with preparation of the calendar and to edit and type press releases received and included in the "news briefs" section of the paper. I also wrote occasional feature articles. Click to view writing sample.

The Center for Community Inclusion is the University of Maine's University Affiliated Program for interdisciplinary education, research and public service in disability studies. I began work for the Center as a temporary employee hired to provide computer support to the staff and faculty of the Center and to create a Website as part of a Center project titled Postsecondary Education Programs for Individuals with Disabilities: Opportunity to Completion. I was later hired permanently as an administrative assistant to the Coordinator of Dissemination and the Coordinator of Research. In addition to general office duties, I maintained the Center's mailing database, assisted in the preparation of grant proposals, assisted the Publications Specialist with producing newsletters, brochures, handbooks and other Center publications, as well as refined and maintained the Center's Website.