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Education

• Master's in English (TESOL Emphasis): Mississippi State University, 2001.
• B.A. (Journalism), Magna Cum Laude: Mississippi University for Women, 1993.
• Permanent International TESL Certification from MSU -- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.

Experience

Davis College, 2004 - Present: Assistant Professor of TESL and TESL Department Chair.

Onondaga Community College (Syracuse, NY): Adjunct Professor of English and Journalism. Subjects taught include Basic Composition, Freshman Composition I & II, Freshman Composition I & II for ESL Students, Introduction to Journalism, Electronic Media Writing, Professional Tutor in the Writing Skills Center (2001-2004).

New York Baptist Magazine and Website Manager for the Baptist Convention of New York, 2000-2004.

Mississippi State University: Teaching experience on the university level.

Immanuel's Center for Christian Education, 1984-1990 and 1994-1999: Teaching experience in various subjects and grade levels.

MUW Public Affairs, 1992-1994: Professional writing experience, sports information specialist/staff writer.

The Commercial Dispatch, 1990-1998: Sports stringer.

• Professional journalism skills
• Macintosh and PC experience
• Layout, design, pagination, interviewing, writing, and editing
• Photography -- camera work including developing and printing.

Awards, Honors, and Professional Memberships

2004 - Present: Professional Member, TESOL, Inc.

1998-Present: Member, MSU Chapter of Sigma Tau Delta.

1994-Present: Member, MUW Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

1995-1997: President, MUW Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi.

1999-Present: TESOL Teaching Certification

1995-1997: ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International) Teaching Certificate.

1998: Published in Angels on Earth magazine.

1997: General Excellence Award, Ray Furr Communication Workshop.

1994: Special Meritorious Award, Ray Furr Communication Workshop.

1993: Who's Who Among American College Students.

1993: Outstanding Journalism Student at MUW.

1991: First Place in Mississippi Press Association's Student Newspapers for Best Editorial.

1991: Mississippi Women's Press Association Award.

Former member, American Association of University Women.

Former member, Women's Political Network.

Other Professional Involvements

• Started and developed a church newsletter and wrote weekly columns for Central Square, NY weekly newspaper while serving at Mallory Baptist Church (now Central Square Wesleyan) in Mallory, NY (1979).
• Has done book reviews and articles for Christian Home & School magazine, in Grand Rapids, MI, since 1989.
• Started and advised Immanuel High School's student newspaper (1987-1998). Former students won numerous awards. One former student is the editor of a magazine in Michigan, and others work for their local community or college newspapers. Several have garnered scholarships and prestigious jobs based on their journalistic abilities.
• Has handled public relations for ICCE and Immanuel Baptist Church, including designing and doing the layout for the church directory and several other church/school publications (1984-1998).
• Editor of the college newspaper, The Spectator, while working on her bachelor's degree. During that time, the newspaper and Bonnie both garnered several awards from the Mississippi Press Association (1990-1993).
• Taught composition at MSU as a teaching assistant while earning her master's degree.
• Wrote for the Mississippi Quarterly while a graduate student at MSU.
• Served as the editor of the New York Baptist magazine for the Baptist Convention of New York (2000-2004)
• Has been published various times in the Post-Standard (2000-Present).

Personal Information

Bonnie grew up in a loving Christian home of parents and grandparents who were leaders in a Baptist church in Columbus, Mississippi. By the time she was three, she had already sung several solos in church and learned most of the Bible stories. But it was at the age of five that Bonnie met Jesus face to face and asked Him to come into her life and be her Lord and Savior. Since that time, Bonnie has always had Christ by her side as her very best friend and guide. It has been a blessing and adventure to follow Christ all the different places He has led her -- through deep, dark, scary valleys or up on joyous mountain tops; over bumpy roads of life or down smooth, beautiful pathways.

God called Bonnie to be a pastor's wife even before she met the man she was to marry. At age 12, Bonnie answered this call and started making plans to attend a Bible college so I could "find a minister and marry him." But the Lord had even better plans in store, and when she was 15, she met a lost soul named Karl Novak on church visitation! God used Bonnie's pastor, her parents, and herself to lead Karl to Christ. A few months later, God called Karl to the ministry, and the rest is history. God gave the Novak's two wonderful grown, married children -- Jason earned his BS in interdisciplinary studies from Mississippi State. He and his wife, Sally, reside and work in Tennessee. Annie and her husband, Steven, have been blessed with a daughter, Anna Cecille Johnson, the Novak's first grandchild.

One of Bonnie's greatest blessings and greatest challenges has been serving the Lord as a church planter of Cicero Baptist Church here in Upstate New York, but she wouldn't have it any other way. As Bonnie states it, "I love New York!"