A Close Reading of the Text Reveals ...

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottsgrove High School.

Several students representing Pottsgrove High School recent won high honors in this year's WordWright Challenge, a competition for American high school students requiring close reading and analysis of many different kinds of prose and poetry.

In the year's second meet, held in December, freshman Hailey Ellwanger, sophomores Anita Ghorpade and Peter McNamara, juniors Ashley Flint and Karli Tellis and seniors Jasmine Hughes, Nathan Smith and Nate Yuchimiuk all earned near-perfect scores, placing among the 133 highest-scoring ninth graders; the 187 highest-scoring tenth graders, the 167 highest-scoring eleventh graders and the 250 highest-scoring twelfth graders nationwide.

More than 64,000 students from 48 states entered the meet.

Pottsgrove's participation was overseen by Todd Kelly.

the premise behind the WordWright Challenges is that attentive reading and sensitivity to language are among the most important skills students acquire in school.

The texts students must analyze for the challenge can range from short fiction by Eudora Welty or John Updike, to poetry as old as Shakespeare's or as recent as Margaret Atwood's and, to essays as classic as E.B. White's, or as current as James Parker's cultural commentary in The Atlantic.

Though the texts vary widely in voice, subject, tone and length, they all have one thing in common -- style.

All use language skillfully to convey layers and shades of meaning, not always apparent to students on a first or casual reading. Like the questions on the verbal SAT and Advanced Placement exams, the questions posed by the WordWright Challenge ask students both to recognize the emotional and/or rational logic of a piece of writing and to notice the ways in which a writer's style shapes and shades his meaning.

The texts for the second WordWright Challenge meet this year were a pair of poems by Richard Wilbur and Alastair Reid for 9th and 10th graders; and a short story by Michael Byers for 11th and 12th graders.

The students will participate in two more meets over the coming months and medals and certificates will be awarded in June to those who achieve and/or improve the most in the course of the year.

Pottsgrove Stages the Fabulous Fable Factory

Submitted Photos

 Cast members perform the fable “The Farmer and the Donkeys.”

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottsgrove School District.

Pottsgrove High School will stage the children’s musical "The Fabulous Fable Factory" in the high school auditorium on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m.

Cast members perform the fable “The Tortoise and the Hare”

The show’s brisk pace, likable characters, catchy songs, and running time (1 hour) make it ideal for the young and “the young at heart.”

The plot follows Monroe, a 12-year-old boy (portrayed Emma Burrus), who wanders into a seemingly abandoned factory and accidentally trips a lever that activates the “machinery,” an assembly line of 17 actors.

Mr. Aesop (Luke Robles) explains that the factory has been idle for 2000 years because of a missing part: “the moral maker.” 

Cast members rehearse the fable
“The Country Mouse and the City Mouse”

As the factory produces modernized versions of fables including “The Country Mouse and the City Mouse,” “The Lion and the Mouse,” and “The Tortoise and the Hare,” Monroe surprises everyone by supplying clever morals.

The nicely balanced show allows each of the 19 actors moments in the spotlight.

The production also features Madison Batzel, Brianna Beitler, Bryce Clemmer, Cierra Fekelman, Matthew Gambino, Natayja Jones, Ciara Markoski, Aaron Nealy, Sarah Ounsworth, Sarah Pennington, Christian Samilenko, Rebekah Schueck, Michaela Sloan, Michael Thornton, Hannah Weghorst, James Wilson, and Hannah Windrim.

Cast members perform the fable “The Lion and the Mouse"

The student pianist is Liz Driehaus. 

The show is staged by veteran director Todd Kelly. 

Other faculty members Holli Artim, Liz Rodenbaugh, and Cindy Scherer make artistic contributions while Stacy Couch handles the choreography. 

Student director for the production is Katlyn Trapani.

General admission to the show is $3 at the door. 

Children 12 and under are free.

Finding The Right Words

Abby Hudock

A team of twelfth graders representing Pottsgrove High School won highest honors in this year's WordWright Challenge, tying for 15th place out of 596 school teams from across the country.

Senior Abby Hudock was one of only four twelfth graders in the entire country to earn a perfect score.

Seniors Chris Haslam, Anthony Pond and Jay Young, along with sophomore Janine Faust, rounded out Pottsgrove's high scoring team, which was supervised by longtime Pottsgrove teacher Todd Kelly.

The WordWright Challenge is a national competition for high school students requiring close reading and analysis of many different kinds of prose and poetry.

The score was earned in the Challenge's third meet, held in February and involved more than 69,000 students from across the country.

The premise behind the WordWright Challenge is that attentive reading and sensitivity to language are among the most important skills students acquire in school.

The texts students must analyze can range from short fiction by Eudora Welty or John Steinbeck to poety as old as Shakespeare's or as recent as Margaret Atwood's.

Like the questions on the verbal SAT and advanced placement exams in both English language and English literature, the questions posed by the WordWright Challenge ask students both to recognize the emotional and/or rational logic of a piece of writing, and to notice the ways in which a writer's style shapes and shades his or her meaning.

The texts for the third meet this year were a poem by Alistair Reid for ninth and 10th graders and a sonnet by Robert Frost for 11th and 12th graders.

The students will compete in one more WordWright meet during the coming months and medals and certificates will be awarded in June to those who have achieved or progressed the most in the course of the year.

Pottsgrove Honors Two of its Own

Photo by Evan Brandt

From left, Pottstown High School Principal William Ziegler, Athletic Director Gary DeRenzo, School Board President Justin Valentine, Football Coach and Honoree Rick Pennypacker, and Superintendent Shellie Feola with the plaque designating Pottsgrove High School's Football Stadium as Richard C. Pennypacker Stadium.

Photo by Evan Brandt

H. Todd Kelly with the same group of appreciative Pottsgrove folks.

Blogger's Note: Tuesday night was a special night for the Pottsgrove community as two beloved icons of the school system, H. Todd Kelly and Richard Pennypacker were honored for their 27 and 25 years of service, respectively, to the students of the district.

Each will have the opportunity to ply their craft in a venue with which they are deeply familiar, but made new by the fact that now bears their name, in recognition of those years of service.

Congratulations to both.

What follows below is an account of the Tweets (and one Tout video) done live during the meeting, along with the other matters from the rest of the meeting.

(Note: Be sure to click the "next page" button on the blue bar when you get to the bottom, there's more.)