| Teachers |
| Teacher Pages |
| Summer Reading |
| Course Offerings |
| Media |
| Public Speaking |
| Plays |
| Sponsored Clubs |
| EDLINE Nerinx Hall |
| Links |
| Citing Sources |
| Recommended Reading |
English at Nerinx Hall |
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| Mrs. Noeli Lytton, Department Chair |
| Dr. Michael Bartz |
| Mr. Bill Kwapy, Media Director |
| Mrs. Jean Fry |
| Mrs. Jan McCurley |
| Ms. Susan Pennington, Speech Coach |
| Ms. Jenni Ryan |
| Mrs. Maggie Ryan |
| Mrs. Jennifer Staed |
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2008 Poetry Outloud ContestNerin Winner Moves to Regional Competition |
| In early January Nerinx girls recited poetry aloud. These six finalists competed again on Jan. 24 to determine who would represent Nerinx in the regional event in February. The Fathers Club generously donated prize money to all of the finalists: Jen May (2010), Lauren MacDonald ('2008), Allie Fry (2011), Annie Hagerty (2009), Maria Lemakis (2010), and Annie Blount (2008). Annie will go on to participate in the St. Louis Regional competition in February. | ||
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Read Winning Essays |
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| Elissa Huck, First Prize, Freshman Level Allie Fry, Second Prize , Freshman Level Kristen Ottenlips, Third Prize , Freshman Level Teresa Blood, First Prize, Sophomore Level Margaret Potts, Second Prize, Sophomore Level Christine Soucy, Third Prize , Sophomore Level Meredith Kusky, First Prize , Junior Level Julia Corbet-Ronecker, Second Prize, Junior Level Maggie Brockland, Third Prize, Junior Level Colleen Blosser, First Prize, Senior Level Michele Currie, Second Prize, Senior Level Colleen Lucas, Third Prize, Senior Level |
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English Courses |
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| Four years of English are required for graduation. All freshmen take Freshman Composition and Introduction to Western Literature. All sophomores take Expository Writing and Sophomore Literature. Some sophomores may elect to take Journalistic Writing, which is a special section of the Expository Writing course. All juniors take U. S. Literature. Select students at this level are in an Honors section, for which they are given the option to earn college credit. Seniors may take a variety of courses such as "Innocence and Evil in LIterature", "Women in Literature", "Advanced Creative Writing" plus two honors college credit semesters. | |
Media |
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| The Media Department offers elective courses to all students. These courses do not count towards the required four English credits, but their popularity underscores their importance to the Nerinx curriculum: | |
| The "Program of Studies." contains the current list of required and elective courses for the English Department and the Media Department. | |
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| Enrollment in a Media course is not a requirement for students to come under the tutelage of Media Director, Bill Kwapy. Many students are involved all four years in the production of the Morning Show, in production of video spots for their clubs, and in creation of the Video Yearbooks. | |
| Videos made by some "Kwapy's Kids" are now available online. Christine Cabrera '03 won first place in the national 2003 Physics Video Contest of the American Association of Physics Teachers. The contest challenges students to submit videos that demonstrate physics in action and that are suitable for instructional use. Nerinx alumnae are also making their mark in the Media world. Beth Gallagher, President of the Class of 1975, won an Emmy for her editing on The Living Edens : Canyonlands for PBS. She also did the editing for Costa Rica in the same series. | |
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Public Speaking |
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| All students are required to take a one-quarter credit Public Speaking class. Most take this course as sophomores. In it, students are taught to use all their skills to communicate effectively before an audience. For one required project they are expected to combine the skills learned in their computer classes and the principles learned about speaking in order to deliver a quality multimedia presentation. | |
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Clubs |
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| The English Department sponsors two clubs for the application of writing skills: Hallways, our school newspaper, and Inklings, our creative writing magazine. One club, Speech and Debate, competes in both city and Catholic speech leagues and another club, Bookmarkers, invites avid readers to share great literature and discussion with the school. All students are invited to join any of these clubs. | |
| "One Book for Nerinx," sponsored by Bookmarkers, the reading club, invites the whole school community to read the same book and discuss together once each semester. | |
| Reading Marathon invites all students (and faculty) to chart leisure reading and win a pizza lunch in May for twenty books read starting in September. Last year fifteen students and two faculty panted to the finish line in May. | |
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Recommended English Links |
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Citing Online Information in a Bibliography |
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| Nerinx uses MLA style for citing sources for your papers. In the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of their website there is an overview of rules for citing websites. For complete information see the latest edition of the "MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers" at the Circulation Desk in the Nerinx Library. | |
| The English teachers recommend this chapter from Online! A Reference Guide To Using Internet Sources when you want to use MLA style in citing your sources for your papers. | |
| For help as well as enrichment in all sorts of English endeavors in literature, grammar, writing, etc., go to the High School Hub. Nerinx writers might want to enter the ongoing teen poetry contest. | |
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Reading Rocks!!!! |
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Recommended Reading For Freshmen |
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| Your English teachers and the Nerinx Librarian recommend recreational reading to support your studies during your first year at Nerinx. Especially during first semester try a title from the Coming of Age list. During second semester try immersing yourself in the Middle Ages by reading one of those recommended books. | |
Summer Reading 2008 |
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| Ongoing reading helps each student develop vocabulary, flexible thinking skills, and an enlivened imagination. And so annually the English Department encourages reading over the summer. The books are chosen to complement the theme of the upcoming year's studies in English. The English teachers have picked books they think will expand each girl's understanding of herself and others. When school starts in August students may take a short objective test on any one, or two, or all, of the books listed below for extra credit towards their first quarter English grade. The titles below are linked to LibraryThing.com where readers have posted tags in relation to this book and have recorded their personal reviews. It might help you decide which books to read and help you find others books you will want to read. |
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For Freshmen: The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J. K. Rowling The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd |
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| For Sophomores: Shabanu : Daughter of the wind by Suzanne Staples The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver The Milagro Bean Field Warby John Nichols |
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| For Juniors: Sula by Toni Morrison Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie The Awakening by Kate Chopin |
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| For Seniors: The Handmaid's Tale byMargaret Atwood The Red Tent by Anita Diamant Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold |
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