CLERMONT, Fla. — Imagine how instinctive you have to be as a child to see something happening in your classroom and making up your mind that when you grow you want to become an instructor. A Lake County A+ Teacher remembers an unprofessional experience years ago that changed everything for her.  

What You Need To Know

  • Dawn Dombrowski teaches Pinecrest Academy in Clermont

  • She had an experience that motivated to be a teacher

  • Learn about more A+ Teachers and nominate someone here

These days Dawn Dombrowski loves teaching math and science to fourth-grade students at Pinecrest Academy in Clermont.

"When you see that light bulb go off or when the kid goes, ‘Ohhhhh,’ it makes you feel happy in your heart," she explains.

But years ago when Dombrowski herself was a fourth-grader she was watching her friend and classmate give a presentation in front of the class about what she wanted to be when she grew up. 

Dombrowski says, "She really put a lot of effort into her project. She wanted to be a veterinarian." 

Dombrowski was stunned at their teacher’s reaction though.

"She got up and did her presentation and at the end of it all the teacher said to her was, ‘Yeah you should do something else. You are never going to make it as a veterinarian’ and that made me so upset," she recalls.

It was at that very moment that Dombrowski says she knew instantly what she wanted to do when she grew up. She explains, "As a child I was like, 'I'm going to be a teacher one day because no teacher should talk to a student like that.'"

To this day Dombrowski still remembers the impact her teacher's words had on her friend, saying her friend was crushed.

But back then not everyone was convinced Dombrowski should have pursued her dream career.

"Oh I absolutely knew this is what I wanted to do and my mother was 100% against it. You have to understand I was one of those straight-A students, never had to study, did really good on the SAT's and my mother said, ‘You should be a doctor” and I was like, Mom I can't stand the sight of blood. This is what I want to do,'" she shares.

Now 24 years later, Dombrowski has no regrets and takes a lot of pride in seeing her students shine.

She says, "I absolutely have. We're number one in Lake County!"