English Department Awarded Grant to Publish Student Work

I was excited to get a letter from The HCHS Foundation over break that said that we had been awarded the Jodie Harrison Teacher's Grant to publish our second book: Best Student Nonfiction Essays 2010-2011. We hope to build on the success of last year's book.

Here's a snapshot of the process of how essays are selected. Teachers nominate students in their courses who wrote remarkable papers this year, papers that teachers found compelling and thoughtful, papers that fulfilled assignments, but something more. We sent out letters of recognition to these students and their parents and asked them to consider sending in their favorite essay/s to be considered for the book. Often this leads to discussions between teacher and student about which writing was remarkable.

Next, the Honors Seminar in Writing students (with guidance from the Honors Seminar teachers, Alexis Colianni, Angelique Burrell, and Jared Friebel) serve as editors of the book, selecting the year's very best writing. Students also serve in designing the cover and layout and working as a liaison with the printer. Students who will be published are notified in May. The book, which comes out over the summer, is distributed to all the published students, the HC library, the Hinsdale library, the Clarendon Hills library, and a few others in the building. Students can also order extra books at a small extra cost.

I have nine extra books from last year if you are interested. Contact me if you're interested.

The goal of this project is that it will help students become young authors communicating valuable ideas.

Seniors win top regional award for writing portfolios

Seniors Julia Quintero and Joanie Greve have both been presented the Gold Key for Excellence in The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards of 2011 for their portfolios for nonfiction writing that they submitted to a national competition. This is the top regional award which qualifies them for the national competition. English teachers Angelique Burrell and Jared Friebel have been recognized by the competition as important sources of support for these two student authors.

ELL Student wins first place in TESOL Essay Contest

ELL Tutor Geraldine Deliva received first place for her essay from the Illinois Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Association. Her essay was number one out of all the area high school submissions. Geraldine, whose family is from the Philippines, is graduating this year and will be attending the University of Illinois at Chicago. Congratulations to Geraldine! Congratulations also to Amy Profetto, Hinsdale Central Director of TPI.

English Teacher and Librarian to Present at National Conference

English Teacher Jared Friebel and Librarian (and honorary English Department Member) Myles Laffey have been working together for two years on developing broad and deep critical research skills for freshman at HC. Their work has influenced English 1 curriculum.

This year they applied to present at the AASL (American Association of School Librarians) National Conference, and were accepted!

Their proposal entitled Research Curriculum Gymnastics: Using TRAILS as a Springboard to a FLIP (Freshman Level Interest Project) will be presented at AASL’s 15^th National Conference & Exhibition, October 27-30, 2011 in Minneapolis, MN.

Congratulations to Jared and Myles! And thank you for being teacher leaders in critical literacy at Hinsdale Central.

Two English Teachers Present at Reading Conference

English teachers Jan Bujan and Jim DiDomenico presented today at the 35th Annual Reading Conference "From Our Roots to Our Branches" sponsored by Concordia University and the West Suburban Reading Council.

Their topic was "Visual Literacy in the High School English Classroom," a topic that both have become experts in during the last couple years.

Congratulations to both of them for sharing their expertise outside the walls of HC!

El Diablo brings home hardware!

If you've seen the new yearbook, El Diablo, you probably were impressed with its fabulous design. The theme "Story of my Life" was ingenious! You weren't the only one that was impressed, however:

• The 2009-2010 El Diablo Yearbook won the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s Gold Medal, which is awarded to the top one percent of yearbooks.
• The National Scholastic Press Association awarded the 2009-2010 El Diablo yearbook the honor rating of First Class with Two Marks of Distinction.
• The Kettle Moraine Press Association awarded Hinsdale Central High School’s 2009-2010 El Diablo the Honor Rating of All-Kempa.
• The American Scholastic Press Association awarded Hinsdale Central High School’s 2009-2010 El Diablo First Place.
• Walsworth Publishing inducted Hinsdale Central High School's 2009-2010 El Diablo into its "Gallery of Excellence"

Congratulations to the entire Yearbook Staff, including senior editors Hayley West (Editor in Chief), Holly Moran (Design Editor) and Erin Guth (Managing Editor). Congratulations, too, to the sponsors, English teachers Stephanie Hiffman and Erin Timmons!

English Teacher Michael Palmquist Earns National Board Certification

Teacher Michael Palmquist has recently earned his National Board certification. This is a prestigious designation.

Like board-certified doctors and accountants, teachers who achieve National Board Certification have met rigorous standards through intensive study, expert evaluation, self-assessment and peer review.

Congratulations to Michael, a highly-respected teacher leader in the department!

(He joins Jan Bujan as a Board-Certified teacher in English.)