Welcome back from vacation. I hope that you used the time away from school work to pursue activities that are healthy for you. With the medical concern engulfing our way of life so apparent it’s easy to overlook that your mental and emotional well-being may very well be taxed as well. As always take care of yourself first and foremost. We can resolve the school responsibilities according to your needs. Over vacation I had a conversation with a representative from a company who inquired about what was happening with education amidst the COVID virus. I explained to him that most students forget 85% of what they are taught. The students who have been confronted with this learning challenge will too forget much of what they have been taught, but you will surely never forget how this situation impacted your life. This is a unique challenge that I hope you are learning to make the best of. You might remember that one of life’s certain lessons is that happiness takes hard work. There is no doubt that you are all experiencing, for better or worse, the value of family.
As far as the rest of the school year goes we will follow the syllabus picking up with DAY 6 activities. In general there are four undertakings that remain for the year. This quarter, as I have mentioned, is designed as a review of the essential learning that is required of freshmen honors English students. You are required to complete the Grammar Mastery Program responsibilities, complete reading To Kill a Mockingbird along with the supporting activities expressed on the syllabus, read the independent book selected by your parent/guardian and attend to those supporting assignments, as well as reviewing the poetry focus by composing three poems. I will continue to address questions through my school email. Do not feel that your questions are a burden. My work with you requires us to make the best out of the tools available to us. As I have indicated I am not using Zoom in order to lessen the demand on your time. I realize that following the syllabus is not ideal, but the familiarity of that instruction outweighs other instructional options. An administrative decision may be made that will require me to alter the current design. If and when that occurs I will inform you. Aside from the responsibilities associated with To Kill a Mockingbird the other work is entirely independent. You can complete these responsibilities at your own pace. One advantage that this learning situation has created is that you could complete your English responsibilities before the announced end of the year. Simply submit the related assignments displayed on the syllabus and you are done. Hopefully you will take satisfaction in knowing that you have completed the full-scope of the freshmen honors English curriculum in a manner that no other classes of students have had to encounter at Brunswick High School.