Hall of Fame
Each year Gross Catholic honors a member of our faculty—past or present—who has made outstanding contributions to our school community with the Faculty Hall of Fame Award. This year, Mrs. Chris Johanek Boro was honored at the homecoming game with the Faculty Hall of Fame Award.
Chris Johanek Boro has been at Gross Catholic since 1980, but she likes to tell her students she was here “when the earth was cooling.” A proud graduate of Gross Catholic, Class of 1976, she was very involved in the school while attending. Her first class as a freshman at Gross Catholic was Theology, taught by our beloved Brother Joe Barrett. Chris was editor of the Paw Prints school newspaper and starred in several plays including Up the Down Staircase, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, as well playing Polly Brown in the very first musical at Gross Catholic, The Boyfriend.
Chris earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with majors in English and Reading, and her master’s degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, with a graduate endorsement in Teaching the Gifted and Talented. She has taught all levels of English, most recently sophomores and seniors, as well as creative writing.
She also teaches ACT Prep class to juniors and seniors. During the 2007 – 2008 school year, she was a member of the Nebraska Department of Education Reading and Writing Standards Revision Committee. Prior to that, she helped revise Language Arts standards and assessments for grades K-12 for the Archdiocese of Omaha.
Chris has lived in Omaha her entire life and she and her husband Craig Boro (Class of 1982) are parishioners of Saints Peter & Paul Parish, where the couple serves as choir members, lectors and volunteers. They are also active in Global Catholic Outreach, an exchange student program that sponsors students from former Communist countries. They have hosted six exchange students, four of which attended Gross Catholic.
According to Dr. Dorothy Ostrowski, “Chris’ commitment to the mission of our school is evident every day both inside and outside of the classroom. We are grateful for the gifts and talents she has shared with us and we are so proud she is a part of our Cougar Family. Dux Esto Chris!”