Hello, parents! You are receiving this letter because your child is enrolled in either AP English Language or English 101 at Madisonville-North Hopkins HS next school year. My name is Micki Clark, and I will be your child’s instructor. In a traditional school year, I would have met with your child to go over a few things, but as we all know, this year was anything but traditional.
Summer Reading & Book Requirement – You will need to purchase several books for your child this school year. Our summer reading, which will need to be completed over the summer, is All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr. It’s an award-winning novel published in 2015. It tells the story of a young blind French girl and a very young recruit to the German army. It’s a powerful story and I hope the students love it as much as I do.
For the school year, students will need a copy of:
- Thank You for Arguing, Fourth Edition, by Jay Heinrichs (this is a reference text and we will use it all school year; please be careful to get the correct edition)
- Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara (first trimester)
- All the Gallant Men, by Donald Stratton (second trimester)
- The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien (third trimester)
All additional readings and texts will be provided. I will be contacting Readmore so that they can have copies of these books on order locally, or you are welcome to purchase them online or at another bookseller if that is your preference.
If you have issues affording texts, please let me know and I can put you in touch with our Youth Services Center coordinator, Mr. Randall Campbell.
Communication & Contact – at this time, we simply don’t know if we’ll have traditional school or another online experience. Therefore, it is critical that we establish and maintain a line of communication. This summer, I will begin posting resources to my classroom web site, accessible at www.micki-clark.com. I also encourage you to join my PARENT Remind by texting @mscpar2020 to 81010. Have your child join the STUDENT Remind: @msceng20 to 81010. Please do not join the student remind yourselves; there is a limit of the number of participants to a Remind group. We will also use Google Classroom this year. I will give GC codes to students once final class schedules have been set.
I have also enclosed a survey for you to complete. If you can complete it online (it’s also fine to have your child complete it), please do so, but if you need to mail it back to the school, an address is at the bottom of the survey. Hopefully, we’ll be back in the traditional classroom and it won’t be necessary, but I want to be completely prepared to provide your child with the best instruction I can deliver. Completing online? Here’s the link: https://bit.ly/MSCParentSurvey
Parent Involvement – I’d like to finish by asking for your help. Whether your child is enrolled as an AP student or a MCC ENG 101 student, it’s important that they understand they are now enrolled in a college class, and with that comes a certain amount of responsibility. Some of the students are completely ready for that responsibility. Others aren’t. You know your child better than anyone. Support them as they take on this endeavor. I will always post all of my unit plans and calendars online well before a unit begins. Help your child learn to make a schedule for themselves. They will always know about homework in advance so that, if needed, they can complete my homework early so they have more time for another class or for an after-school sport or activity. Teach them these skills now–you’ll thank yourselves in two years when they are taking their first full load of college courses!
ENG 101 Parents Only – I’m so excited that so many of you have chosen to take the class as a dual credit course! We will need to complete some paperwork for MCC at the beginning of the school year. Please don’t worry about that at this time; we will let you know closer to August how those documents will be completed.
Reach Out – In closing, I want to encourage you to reach out to me when/if you need to do so. Feel free to e-mail me this summer (micki.clark@hopkins.kyschools.us) or send me a message on Remind. While I may not answer as quickly as I do during the school year, I will definitely get back to you and answer your question to the best of my ability.
I am excited to meet your children and spend this year together. They will learn a lot about American literature, American history, and hopefully themselves.
Enjoy your summer together!
Micki Clark