High School English at Mount Madonna School: Curricular Overview
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This course sequence is designed around literary seminar ideals, which entail an emphasis on group dynamic and project-based learning through active participation, self-reflection, discussion, and sharing the creative mind. We will deepen our skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, research, critical thinking, collaboration, and discernment by interacting with multiple literary genres in order to experience the power, magic, and beauty of language, both oral and written. We study some of the major literary works humanity has produced. There is an emphasis on community engagement, independent thinking, and creative courage with the goal to become lifelong learners and empathetic contributors to society.
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“That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong.”
~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
Student Publications and Recognitions:
2017-2018
Will be updated soon.
2016-2017
This year our Values in World Thought teacher alerted me to the Yes! Magazine National Writing Competition. We used their Winter 2016 prompt as our final essay for the semester, and per the guidelines, I submitted 12 student essays to the competition (3 from each English class). Out of 2,000 submissions nationwide, six winners were chosen. Two of the winners (the High School Overall Winner and a Powerful Voice Winner) were from our tiny mountain school, sophomores Imogen Cockrum and Mara Peruzzi. When our greater community heard about the competition, the girls were also awarded with Mayor's Certificates of Recognition by Watsonville Mayor Oscar Rios.
We were also informed that Aki'o Nanamura (12th), Cat Ching (12th), and Noah Kaplan (10th) were all finalists, AND when the winning essays are published, the magazine also publishes what they call "Literary Gems," brief excerpts from 15-20 essays that stood out for their literary merit. The following students were recognized in this category:
Cat Ching (12th)
Izzy Thomas (12th)
Brigg Busenhart (11th)
Carl Ward (11th)
In total this means 8 of our 12 submissions received recognition in a pool of 2,000. Wow.
Here is an article with more information on the competition and links to the winning essays: https://www.mountmadonnaschool.org/two-students-win-national-writing-competition/
Also, it has become a tradition at our school to submit to the Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition. Since we took on the essay competition, I didn't spend any class time on the poetry competition this year, but Priyanka Bharghavan (10th) submitted and was chosen for publication.
2015-2016
Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition: We don't have the total number of submissions this year, but out of the roughly 50 poems published in the anthology countywide, 10 of them are from our tiny mountain school.
Julia Gratton (12th) won 3rd place overall in the county and received an honorable mention.
Clio Herbert (12th) had two poems accepted into the anthology.
Holden Smith (12th) received an honorable mention and was accepted to the anthology.
Bella Bettencourt (11th) and Louis Marshall (12th) received honorable mentions.
The following students had poems accepted into the anthology:
Noah Kaplan (9th)
Lucas (10th)
Amelia (11th)
CeCe (12th)
Max (12th)
2014-2015
Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition: In all 235 students from thirteen Santa Cruz County high schools entered a total of 371 poems in the competition. From those entries, eight MMS students had a total of ten works selected for the final anthology of 51 poems.
Julia Gratton received 1st Prize in the countywide competition for her poem "To the Janitor" as well as Honorable Mention for "793 Cranes."
The following students have poems published in the anthology of roughly 50 poems from students in Santa Cruz County:
Lucas Caudill (9th)
Cat Ching (10th)
Caroline Smith (10th)
Cameron Bess (11th)
Sophia Saavedra (11th)
Holden Smith (11th)
Lexi Julien (12th)
Will be updated soon.
2016-2017
This year our Values in World Thought teacher alerted me to the Yes! Magazine National Writing Competition. We used their Winter 2016 prompt as our final essay for the semester, and per the guidelines, I submitted 12 student essays to the competition (3 from each English class). Out of 2,000 submissions nationwide, six winners were chosen. Two of the winners (the High School Overall Winner and a Powerful Voice Winner) were from our tiny mountain school, sophomores Imogen Cockrum and Mara Peruzzi. When our greater community heard about the competition, the girls were also awarded with Mayor's Certificates of Recognition by Watsonville Mayor Oscar Rios.
We were also informed that Aki'o Nanamura (12th), Cat Ching (12th), and Noah Kaplan (10th) were all finalists, AND when the winning essays are published, the magazine also publishes what they call "Literary Gems," brief excerpts from 15-20 essays that stood out for their literary merit. The following students were recognized in this category:
Cat Ching (12th)
Izzy Thomas (12th)
Brigg Busenhart (11th)
Carl Ward (11th)
In total this means 8 of our 12 submissions received recognition in a pool of 2,000. Wow.
Here is an article with more information on the competition and links to the winning essays: https://www.mountmadonnaschool.org/two-students-win-national-writing-competition/
Also, it has become a tradition at our school to submit to the Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition. Since we took on the essay competition, I didn't spend any class time on the poetry competition this year, but Priyanka Bharghavan (10th) submitted and was chosen for publication.
2015-2016
Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition: We don't have the total number of submissions this year, but out of the roughly 50 poems published in the anthology countywide, 10 of them are from our tiny mountain school.
Julia Gratton (12th) won 3rd place overall in the county and received an honorable mention.
Clio Herbert (12th) had two poems accepted into the anthology.
Holden Smith (12th) received an honorable mention and was accepted to the anthology.
Bella Bettencourt (11th) and Louis Marshall (12th) received honorable mentions.
The following students had poems accepted into the anthology:
Noah Kaplan (9th)
Lucas (10th)
Amelia (11th)
CeCe (12th)
Max (12th)
2014-2015
Santa Cruz County High School Poetry Competition: In all 235 students from thirteen Santa Cruz County high schools entered a total of 371 poems in the competition. From those entries, eight MMS students had a total of ten works selected for the final anthology of 51 poems.
Julia Gratton received 1st Prize in the countywide competition for her poem "To the Janitor" as well as Honorable Mention for "793 Cranes."
The following students have poems published in the anthology of roughly 50 poems from students in Santa Cruz County:
Lucas Caudill (9th)
Cat Ching (10th)
Caroline Smith (10th)
Cameron Bess (11th)
Sophia Saavedra (11th)
Holden Smith (11th)
Lexi Julien (12th)
Teacher: J. Haley Campbell
The 40th annual production of our musical, The Ramayana!, with Phoebe Grant, '18 (left), as Princess Sita
I have been teaching English and Creative Writing for nine years at the middle school, high school, and college levels. I have an MFA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and an MA in Teaching from Westminster College. Since 2014, I have taught high school English and Creative Writing at Mount Madonna School, my alma mater, where as a child I fell in love with storytelling and the redwood forest. I also love singing, hiking, volunteering with animal rescue organizations, and writing fiction.
