Three Juniors Win National Writing Award

Three Central juniors, Emily Morse, Madison Wagner, and Dania Noghnogh, were recently awarded the prestigious "Achievement Award in Writing" for "superior performance in writing" by the National Council of Teachers of English.  There are only 155 students chosen from across the United States.

The National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Award in Writing was established in 1957 to encourage high school students in writing and recognize publicly some of the best student writers in the nation. The selection process is intense. The winning writers are selected for independence of thought, fresh insight, concern for expressiveness, keen observation and reflection, and sensitivity to nuances of word meaning.

Congratulations to Emily, Madison, Dania, and the entire English faculty for helping these students develop her writing skills.  The three English teachers who mentored the students, Erin Timmons, Gina Chandler, and Christine Hicks, deserve special commendation.

English Teacher Christine Hicks

English Teacher Erin Timmons

17 Students Recognized for Excellence in Writing

Each year, the Illinois English Bulletin devotes its Fall issue to publishing student work from Illinois students. This year, an astounding 17 Central students were published and honored. Congratulations to this remarkable group of authors!  Congratulations also to the English teachers including (but not limited to!) the ones listed below who have helped nurture these young writers.  The number of students recognized this year is an all-time record.

Name	Grade	Title	Teacher	Place
Margaret Bieber	11	Coda	Christine Hicks	First, prose
Annie Cappetta	11	Good Grief	David Lange	Runner Up, prose
Bridget Gilmore	12	Unshoveled	Angelique Burrell	First, prose
Jordan Hank	12	The Field of Screams	Heather Fehrman	Honorable Mention, poetry
Julia Huang	11	A Day in the Life	Jared Friebel	Runner Up, prose
Kelly Hung	11	Thicker Than Blood	Christine Hicks	First, prose
Emma Jerzyk	12	When we Were Best Friends	Jared Friebel	Honorable Mention, poetry
Smriti Kanangat	11	All The Single Ladies	Christine Hicks	First, prose
Charlotte Kanzler	12	Neuropathology	Angelique Burrell	Runner Up, poetry
George Levy	11	The B.S. of America	Jared Friebel	First, prose
Sarah McCarthy	11	Wub. vs. Boom	David Lange	Honorable Mention, prose
Dania Noghnogh	11	Love Letter	Gina Chandler	Honorable Mention, prose
Rahul Ramani	11	Eye Witness	Jared Friebel	First, prose
Shreya Rao	11	Remembering Nine	Christine Hicks	First, prose
Alexandra Solovyev	11	Saints and Sinners	Jared Friebel	Runner Up, prose
Derek Tu	11	Happy Meal	Jared Friebel	First, prose
Sarah Vessely	12	On Choosing Pain	Angelique Burrell	First, prose

Top 10 Ways to Prepare for the Switch from English 1 to English 2 Honors

English 1 Teacher Michael Smith asked one of his past students who jumped from English 1 to English 2 Honors to make a "Top 10 List" of how to make the transition successful.  I think the list is great.

Top 10 Things to do When Transitioning Between Regular and Honors English

1. ·         Do not get behind on your reading! Honors moves at a faster pace and you most likely won’t be able to catch up, unless you spend your entire weekend reading it.
2. ·         Highlight important quotes as you read because there is a lot of quote identification that you will need to know. Know who says it, and who they say it to! Also, take notes while you read.
3. ·         For Socratic seminars, make sure you have detailed notes because it makes you talk more during them. Use textual evidence and always speak up during them. Don’t just repeat what other people say either, say something new.
4. ·         If your teacher gives you a packet to answer questions in while you’re reading, but says it’s optional, DO THEM. Most likely these questions are a guide for your test.
5. ·         Actually read your book and think critically about it because we get a lot of pop reading quizzes the day after we read. Don’t be surprised if your teacher gives you one or two pop quizzes a week during a book unit.
6. ·         Writing is everything in honors. You have to make an effort to improve and adapt your writing styles to your teachers liking.
7. ·         Write your thesis as an open statement, not a list. You will learn to do this in honors next year and your thesis statements should stay like this for the rest of the year.
8. ·         Analyze everything. Notice the figurative language in reading and writing and make sure to include figurative language in your creative writing papers.
9. ·         If you need help on a paper or don’t understand what is going on in a book, go in for help. Just because you’re in an honors class doesn’t mean your teacher won’t help you.
10. ·         Speak up in class in the beginning of the year because it shows the teacher that even though you came from a regular class, you know what you’re doing and you deserve to be in that honors class!

GOOD LUCK NEXT YEAR!!!

-MK