John & Sandy's Background Page

Family

John is married to Sandra and they have four boys: Keith, Michael, Brannon, and John Jr. They share their home with two dogs (Bo and Rosemary), three cats (Xina, Bailey, and Gray-C), and two Australian Longtail finchs. There are also number of goldfish who occupy the pond John built in front of our home.

Occupation

John taught AP European History, Government/Economics and Apple Web Development Academy at South Dade Senior High School in Homestead, Florida. He taught social studies for 35 years and had been the faculty sponsor of the Key Club since 1975. He served as the Social Studies Department Chairman for over a decade and was the Athletic Business Manager for one year. In 2000 John was selected as the "Teacher of the Year" by the faculty at South Dade Senior High School (no extra $ but it did include a prime dedicated parking place in front of the school). John was selected as one of the five region finalists which qualified him for a great deal more paperwork but he appreciated it anyway. He retired in 2004 but came back in 2005 to teach two classes Web Design as a part-time faculty member. He fully retired in June of 2005 and is now on a pension and Social Security.

Organizations

John was a member of the Homestead-South Dade Kiwanis Club. In 1981 was selected as "The Kiwanian of the Year". He served on the Board of Directors for a number of years and was recently elected president for the 2005-2006 term and began serving in that capacity in October, 2005. John retired later in the year due to health reasons and to deal with addtional family responsibilities.
John was a member of Flotilla 6-12 (Homestead, Fla) of the Coast Guard Auxiliary, he held the offices of FSO- CS (Flotilla Staff Officer for Computer Services) and FSO-PB (Flotilla Officer for Publications) and was an "Aids to Navigation" instructor for the Auxiliary Safe Boating Course. He retired from the CGAUX in 1999.

Hobbies

Reading, maintaining family and HHS60 web sites, English competitive darts, and traveling...

Since HHS'60

After graduation John attended Miami-Dade Community College (the first year it opened - 1960), with Jeff Giordano, Eddie Lewis, Jerry Greene and other HHS '60 grads. In 1962, John, Jeff Giordano (deceased), and Jerry Greene joined the Army. After basic training, John was assigned to the Army Security Agency and after training, spent eighteen months at Kagnew Station, Eritria, Ethiopia. (Don't ask - he can't tell.) Took an early out for college, spent a leisurely two weeks returning from Ethiopia through Athens, Rome, and Paris. (Shouldn't tell about that either - wives don't honor the statute of limitations.) Reunited with Jeff and they shared an apartment, worked and saved for a year then Jeff, Eddie Lewis and John got together and rented a house in Tallahassee and attended FSU. At the end of the first semester, John and Eddie came back to campus as married men and Jeff began a relationship with the woman who is now his wife. (Must have been something in the water?) John and his first wife Barbara had a son (Michael) and John later married Sandra Malaney (Her maiden was Sandra Ellis) who had two boys from a previous marriage (Keith and Brannon) and in 1980, Sandy gave birth to a boy (John Jr.).

The Boys

Keith Malaney is married to Patti and is currently working as an electrician's helper and studying for the electricians journeyman exam. Michael Burkowski is married to Shelia (no - I didn't misspell it) and is working as a policeman for the San Antonio (Texas) police department. His beat is the Airport. Brannon Malaney is married to Missy and is also working as an electrician's helper. Brannon and Missy have two daughters, Rachel and Tannah.and a son, Riley. (Please stop the "Ha, Ha, Ha, they're grandparents jokes - right now! Thank you. John Burkowski, Jr. (Johnny) graduated from Miami Dade College in Homestead and then majored in History and Government at Florida International University. He graduated from FIU in 2007 and has now completed his master's degree in history at FIU. He was a finalist for the "Beginning Social Studies Teacher of the Year" in 2008 and 2009. He currently works for the Academy for Advanced Academics (AAA) which is a SACS accredited dual-enrollment secondary school in Miami, Florida. It is a part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools System and is situated at the Modesto A. Maidique campus of Florida International University.

Post Andrew

John and his family lived in Homestead, Florida until August 24, 1992 when Hurricane Andrew destroyed their home, unfortunately with them inside at the time. By some miracle, no one was hurt, and they crawled out of the wreckage too happy to be alive to give a second thought about losing almost everything they owned. They had an opportunity to move to a better home in the Village of Palmetto Bay (about ten miles north of where they previously lived) and there they started over and are doing well.

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