Honors English has a New Teacher and a New Start

Springville Junior High ninth-grade Honors English classes have a new teacher next year: Ms. Neeley.  Ms. Neeley is going to teach seventh-grade English, Creative Writing, and Honors! According to Emily Baugh, a student who will be in Honors English next year, she wanted to be in Honors English so she could learn things that she didn’t get to in regular English. Paul Young can’t wait for all the fun.  Ana Jimenez said, “I thought it was way too easy in regular English, and I wanted to be challenged.”

To get into Honors English, the students had to fill out an application when they registered. They also had to give Ms. Neeley one piece of their best writing.  During the summer, the students have a summer assignment. According to Ms. Neeley, the summer assignment is where the students read a novel from the list she gave them and keep a reading response journal as they read. The reading response journal should contain passages from the book and questions, comments, predictions, analysis, or comments about the passages. Ms. Neeley said, “I read an article a few summers ago about how a university professor had his students keep a reading response journal, and I thought it would be a great way to help students think about and respond to a novel.”

Students who are in Honors can’t wait! Ana Jimenez said, “I can’t wait for reading new books, and learning to write better.”  According to Paul Young, Honors English is going to be super fun. Ms. Neeley is also super excited to teach Honors English. She said, “I think it will be great to teach a class of students who are highly motivated to work and learn.” 

The students also have some achievements that they want to fulfill. Emily Baugh wants to learn stuff more in depth in the topics. Paul Young said, “I want to be more successful in English!” Ms. Neeley said, “I hope students learn to become better writers, respond to literature in more complex ways, and express their thoughts in organized, clear writing.”