Language Arts Student of the Year: 2018

“If you are a dancer, leap in!” she wrote on the first day in Honors English. I’ve read quite a bit about her passion for dance, but I’ve yet to see her do it. So, Cassie Bowers, if you would, dance up here so I can tell everyone why the Language Arts Spotlight shines on you.

We dealt with metaphors a lot this year. Here are some to describe Cassie: She is a calm ocean on the outside, all quiet confidence and grace. On the inside roars a Force Ten hurricane of meticulous organization, diligent attention to detail, and the driving ambition to live up to the highest expectations. The lightning flashes of merriment or dismay in her ocean-colored eyes only suggest what lies beneath the peaceful surface.

In her own words: “I am the type of girl who loves to be sarcastic…it’s a bonus if the teacher enjoys sarcasm as much as I do.” I knew we were going to get along when I read that. More recently, she reflected, “At the beginning of 9th grade, I became less shy and louder I guess.” [?!?] In order to be loud-ER, you first have to be loud, and she never was, but her performance spoke for itself right from the start, and the message was always clear: She gets it!  Cassie was one of a small handful of students with straight A’s in Honors English this year, and the only one who never needed extra credit or extra time to do it. (Which didn’t stop her from completing the extra credit assignments, just in case.) After a hectic week of AP testing, she came in during Intervention to take the year-end Word Cells test, and she was the only one in her class to get 100%.

Dutiful students like Cassie are easy to overlook, but I couldn’t overlook her obvious talent for all things literate. She draws attention to herself not with a constantly-raised hand but with the quiet excellence of her work and her perseverance with novels like A Tale of Two Cities and Jane Eyre, which drove many of her classmates to Spark Note Purgatory. And I like the personal philosophy that comes through in her reflections on literature: “Reading requires you to be engaged…it is necessary to hear different opinions to have a diverse society.”

Not only is Cassie Bowers academically brilliant, but she also has a passion for challenge and a caring spirit that the world needs more of. I am honored when she comes to my room for Intervention, even if it is only to study for her AP Geography test. And, speaking of AP classes, if you really want to see those eyes flash, ask her about that four-hour AP French test!

So, young dancer, take your own advice: “…leap in! Let your ideas run wild and be carefree, for we have an audience, and they want to see! Arabesque in! Pirouette in!” I’m glad you danced into my classroom this year!

Students of the Month: May 2018

As the end of the school year approaches, I try to make sure that students who deserve to be recognized are recognized. Sometimes that means a note scribbled at the bottom of an assignment, but sometimes more formal acknowledgement is called for. Such is the case with each of these four students, all of whom have set themselves apart in their own way.

Trevor Poulson is the “typical” excellent student. He works hard, gets straight A’s, finishes his homework on time, yadda-yadda-yadda. In other words, he is the sort of guy you would expect to have been recognized at every awards ceremony all year. He should be one of those names that you hear whenever anyone is talking about the shining superstars of the school. In my mind, he is that. But Trevor doesn’t draw attention to himself. He just gets the job done without drama, and he doesn’t require a lot from his teachers. He knows if he needs help; he asks for the specific help he needs; and then he takes it upon himself to follow through. As a teacher, it’s easy to overlook him in a room full of 15-year-olds demanding so many different kinds of attention. Well, Trevor, today I thought you should get a little extra attention for an entire year’s worth of excellent work in Honors English. Thanks!

Annie Martineau is a naturally gifted student. Most of the stuff in Honors English comes easy for her, but that isn’t the reason I wanted to recognize her. The Honors classes tend to be stocked with students who have been raised in excellence. They understand how to “be good” in a classroom. They are quiet (sometimes chillingly so), but they are often risk-averse, meaning they don’t dare to suggest responses that might not be “the right answer.” This can be frustrating when I’m trying to foster a discussion about a literary passage, and that is always when I can depend on Annie. She was never afraid to participate. Unlike certain classmates who have Myles to go before they achieve enlightenment, Annie’s participation was always polite and appropriate for the setting, but she was never afraid to offer her ideas. So, Annie, for your fearlessness, I recognize and thank you!

Samantha Newey is a quiet student, and because of that she was hard for me to figure out. She always performed well enough to fly under my radar, but as the year went on, I had a sense that she could have been doing much better than she was. The old saying is to “leave well enough alone,” but now I know that Sammy is better than “well enough.” Before my students took the end-of-year test as 9th graders, I was looking over their 8th grade results, and I was surprised at Sammy’s score because it seemed lower than it should have been. I’d been reading her essays and scoring her tests all year, and it just seemed to me that she could do better. So I challenged her to do that. Guess what? She did it. Now, Sammy, we have the evidence of your ability, so our expectations are going up! And as you head off to high school, I am sure you will prove to others, as you showed me, that you can live up to them! Thanks!

Kyler Hardy is the type of student who makes me craziest. He is naturally gifted, so school doesn’t challenge him all that much, but during the first couple terms, he could follow the merest distraction down a rabbit hole that would set my small 8th period class in an uproar. And somehow he’d still get a decent grade. Academically, when he puts his mind to it, he is an A-student, and I have noticed this semester that he is putting his mind to it a bit more often: Fewer distractions, more good work, more willingness to participate with the class rather than in spite of it. This is a sign of maturity that will serve him well in the future, but it is not the sort of thing we usually recognize at events like this. Well, Kyler, I am recognizing it in you and thanking you for all your improvements in my class this year. As the poem goes, “You’ll be a man, my son!”