Pottsgrove Students Shine in Reading Challenge

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottsgrove School District.
Two teams of Pottsgrove High School students recently won high honors in this year’s final WordWright Challenge of the academic year. Participating with 693 school teams across the country, Pottsgrove’s eleventh graders tied for thirteenth place in the nation, while our seniors tied for fourteenth in the nation.

Pottsgrove senior and class Valedictorian, Paul Sachs was one of the 12 highest ranked twelfth graders in the country in the year-end cumulative standings.

Pottsgrove students who achieved perfect scores were juniors Simon Lapic and Brenna Mayberry. The students were supervised by Todd Kelly.

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

The tests 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, tone, and length, they 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 I, the SAT II in English Literature, and the Advanced Placement exams in both English Language and English Literature, the questions posed by the WordWright Challenge ask students both the 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. Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, however, it can be a learning experience, not just a high hurdle. 

After completing a Challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the tests and the answers to the multiple-choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/or written response.

The texts for the fourth WordWright meet this year were a pair of poems by Philip Booth and Alastair Reid for 9th and 10th graders and a short story by Michael Chabon for 11th and 12th graders.

Falcons Near-Perfect Again in WordWright Contest

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

Three students representing Pottsgrove High School recently won high honors in the year’s WordWright Challenge, a national competition for American high school students requiring close reading and analysis of many different kinds of prose and poetry.

In this year’s third meet, held in February, freshman Keira McDevitt earned a near-perfect score and placed among the 32 highest-scoring ninth graders in the country. Junior Evan Croxton, who also earned a near-perfect score, was one of the 84 highest-scoring eleventh graders nationwide, while his classmate Hannah Waldt was one of the 179 highest-scorers at this grade level.

More than 70,000 high school students from 48 states entered the meet. The students were supervised by Todd Kelly.

The premise behind WordWright Challenge is that attentive reading and sensitivity to language are among the most important skills students acquire in school. The tests 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, tone, and length, they 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 I, the SAT II in English Literature, and the Advanced Placement exams in both English Language and English Literature, the questions posed by the WordWright Challenge ask students both the 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. 

Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, however, it can be a learning experience, not just a high hurdle. After completing a Challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the tests and the answers to the multiple-choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/or written response.

The texts for the third WordWright meet this year were an essay by Natalie Kusz for 9th and 10th graders and a pair of essays by Francine Prose and Colin Harrison for the 11th and 12th graders. The students will participate in one more meet 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.

Two Pottsgrove students who earned perfect scores earlier this year will be recognized by the Pottsgrove School Board this spring. Molly Neeson this fall and Michael Gillen in December.

Pottsgrove High Readers in Top 20, 1 Perfect Score

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

Two teams of students representing Pottsgrove High School recently won high honors in the year’s WordWright Challenge, a national competition for American high school students requiring close reading and analysis of many different kinds of prose and poetry.

Participating with 693 school teams from all across the country, the ninth graders tied for twelfth place in the nation in the year’s second meet, held in December, while the tenth graders tied for thirteenth place in the nation.

Students at Pottsgrove who achieved outstanding individual results in the meet included:

• Freshman: Ireland Gibney, Tamyra Franklin, Kaitlyn Mayberrry, Steven McPhilimey, and Sydney Renner; 
• Sophomores: Michael Gillen (who earned a perfect score), Naomi Hillen, and Rhys Yochem; and 
• Seniors: Paul Sachs, Josiah Thieme, and Fox Coniglario. 

The students were supervised by Mr. Todd Kelly. 

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

The tests 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, tone, and length, they 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 I, the SAT II in English Literature, and the 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 meaning. 

Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, however, it can be a learning experience, not just a high hurdle. After completing a challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the tests and the answers to the multiple-choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/or written response.

The texts for the second WordWright meet this year were a short story by Doris Lessing for 9th and 10th graders and a Shakespeare sonnet paired with a poem by Anthony Hecht 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.

The students earning a perfect score will be recognized by the Pottsgrove School Board this spring. Molly Neeson this fall and Michael Gillin in December.

Pottsgrove Senior Earns Perfect WordWright Score

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

Four students representing Pottsgrove High School recently won high honors in the 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 this year’s first meet, held in October, senior Molly Neeson was one of only 58 twelfth graders in the entire country to earn a perfect score. 

At the same time, juniors Skylar Glass, Brenna Mayberry and Trinity Sorg all placed among the 196 highest-scoring eleventh graders nationwide. 

More than 70,000 high school students from 48 states entered the meet. The school’s participation was overseen by teacher Todd Kelly.

The premise behind WordWright Challenge is that attentive reading and sensitivity to language are among the most important skills students acquire in school. The tests 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, tone, and length, they 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 I, the SAT II in English Literature, and the Advanced Placement exams in both English Language and English Literature, the questions posed by the WordWright Challenge ask students both the 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. 

Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, however, it can be a learning experience, not just a high hurdle. After completing a challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the tests and the answers to the multiple-choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/or written response.

The texts for the first WordWright meet this year were a pair of poems by Wilfred Owen and Henry Reed for 9th and 10th graders and a short story by Katherine Anne Porrwe for 11th and 12th graders. 

The students will participate in three 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.

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.

Word Is, Pottsgrove Students Have the Wright Stuff

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

A team of students representing Pottsgrove High School won high honors recently in this year's Word Wright Challenge, a national competition for high school students requiring close reading and analysis of many different kinds of prose and poetry.

Participating with 640 school teams  from all across the country, the school's eleventh graders tied for fifteenth place in the nation in this year's first meet, held in October.

Pottsgrove students who achieved outstanding individual results in the meet included freshman Grace Kegel and David Rabinowitz; sophomores Arianne Colbert and Paul Sachs; juniors Charlie Walsh, Katelyn Zook and Karli Tellis; and senior Cassidy Robinson.

The Pottsgrove students were supervised by Todd Kelly.

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

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 for the challenge can range from short fiction by Eudora Welty or John Steinbeck, to poetry as old as Shakespeare's or as recent as Margaret Atwoods; to essays as classic as E. White's or as current as an Atlantic opinion piece by James Parker.

Though the texts vary widely in voice, subject, tone and length, they 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 verbal questions on the SAT, 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.

Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, however, it can be a learning experience, not just a high hurdle.

After completing a challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the texts and the answers to the multiple-choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/.or written responses.

The texts for the second WordWright meet this year were an excerpt from Joseph Conrad's "Lord Jim" for 9th and 10th graders, and an essay for Joan Didion for 11th and 12th graders.

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

Word is, Pottsgrove High School Students Achieving

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

Several students representing Pottsgrove High School recently 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 first meet, hold in October, sophomore Maxwell Hazel was one of the 60 highest-scoring tenth graders and senior Janine Faust one of the 38 highest scoring twelfth graders in the entire country.

Others at the school who excelled included sophomore Charles Walsh and seniors Erika Lessing and Avery Sicher.

More than 63,000 high school students from 48 states entered the meet. Pottsgrove's participation was overseen by Todd Kelly.

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 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 magazine.

Thought the texts vary widely in voice, subject, tone and length, they 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.

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 the writer's style shapes and shades meaning.

Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam, however, it can be a learning experience, not just a high hurdle. After competing a challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the texts and the answers to the multiple-choice questions.

The texts for the WordWright meet this year were an essay by George Orwell for ninth and tenth graders and a short story by John Updike for eleventh and twelfth graders.

The students will participate in three 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.

Finding Just the Wright Words

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

Several students representing Pottsgrove High School recently 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 first meet, held in October, freshmen Natalie Lobello and Tyler Montgomery, sophomores Zachary Rieker and Jacob Schumacher, junior Janine Faust and senior Elizabeth Driehaus all earned near-perfect scores.

Junior Eric Maynard and seniors Brianna Costira, Meganne Natale and Brianna West earned honorable mention at the same time.

The school's participation was overseen by English teacher Todd Kelly.

More than 60,000 high school students from 47 states entered the meet.

The premise of the WordWright challenge is that attentive reading and sensitivity to language are among the most important skills students learn at 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 or as recent as Margaret Atwood's.

Thought the texts vary widely in voice, tone, subject and length, they have one thing in common: style.

The texts for the first WordWright meet this year were a short story by Ron Rash for ninth and tenth graders; and an Atlantic Magazine essay by James Parker for 11th and 12th graders.

The students will participate in three 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.

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.

Forget the Picture, They'll Take the Thousand Words

Liz Driehaus, left, and Kelsey Lee

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

Two students representing Pottsgrove High School recently won highest 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, junior Liz Driehaus, who earned a near-perfect score, placed second among the 88 highest-scoring eleventh graders in the country.

At the same time, Kelsey Lee, who also earned a near perfect score, placed among the 99th highest scoring twelfth graders in the country.

More than 69,000 students from 47 states entered the meet, so that's pretty good.

Teacher Todd Kelly oversaw the students' participation.

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 text students must analyze for WordWright 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, to essays, such as classics by E.B. White, or as current as a Time Magazine essay by James Poniewozik.

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

All use language skillfully to use language and shades of meaning not always apparent to students on a first or casual reading. Like the questions of the verbal SAT tests, the questions posed in 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.

Because the WordWright Challenge is a classroom activity and not a college-entrance exam however, it can be a learning experience and not just a high hurdle.

After completing a challenge, classes are encouraged to talk about the texts and and the answers to the multiple choice questions, and are also given additional topics for open-ended discussion and/or written response.

The texts for the WordWright Challenge this year were an Op-Ed piece from The New York Times for 9th and 10th graders, and an excerpt from a novel by Anthony Trollope for 11th and 12th graders.

The students will compete in two more WordWright meets in the coming months. Medals and certificates will be awarded in June to those who achieve, and or improve the most in the course of the year.