To read is to empower 

   To empower is to write 

   To write is to influence 

To Influence is to change                

      To change is to live.     

        ~ Jane Evershed ~ More than a Tea Party 

  Deborah Holzwarth

English I

English II

ENGLISH I

From the eerie crypts of Italy to a secluded Caribbean island, English I students have traveled via characters in our short stories.  The classes learned how all the elements of short stories work together to produce suspenseful or thoughtful tales.  Now they have just finished writing their own descriptions of people, places, or objects.  They also wrote of events or situations occurring in their own lives.  Classes will now explore literature from a Chicano author and a black American author—both women who are writing today!

English II

  Leslie Struckhoff

English II, III

ENGLISH II:

“Life is either an adventure or it is nothing.” —Helen Keller

Not only is life an adventure, literature is an adventure (one might even say a journey…) as well!
With that in mind, English II students will spend their first semester focusing on The Hero’s Journey…among other things. They’ll pick out the patterns that we all must follow in order to successfully finish a journey and apply them to such works as Field of Dreams, Twelve Angry Men, and Ever After. Before they know it, they’ll realize that, in one way or another, we are all heroes and every day is an adventure waiting to happen.

ENGLISH III:

“There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.”  —O Pioneers!

Boy, Willa Cather nailed it with that quote! Each unit in English III will focus on a particular theme—a different aspect of the human story. Whether it’s demonstrating the elements of morality plays written in the Middle Ages via modern stories such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or discussing the lack of morality witnessed in such works as The Crucible or The Scarlet Letter, students will begin to see that concepts/stories introduced long ago have a definite connection to their lives today.

Film

Womens Literature

Literature of the American West

Discussion and Debate

  Jon Reeverts

English IV

English Composition

COLLEGE COMPOSITION I

Discovering the power and flexibility of the writing process has been the focus of the College Composition I classes this fall. As they prepare their descriptive papers of "Someone or something they know well," they have explored how to improve their intuitions as writers by attempting strategies and techniques that perhaps they have overlooked or have not mastered. Attention has been given to "Spotlighting" the best elements in their descriptive narrative, improving word choice to develop voice and to scrutinizing structure to create a specific effect or tone.

LEADERSHIP

The Revolutionary War was a proving ground for principles established by our forefathers. The Founding Fathers on Leadership is a book that examines these principles and allows members of this senior class to consider their own principles-those they feel they've all ready established and those of others that they might apply to their lives.

Students have also begun exploring goal setting as part of this process and have built a team of individuals who can assist them in reaching their immediate, mid-range and long-term goals. Discovering the accomplishments of John Goddard, has given them a chance to consider developing their own "life list," something we will create in the near future.