English and Language Arts
2025-2026
The WCHS ELA Department is thrilled to welcome two new teachers for the 2025-2026 school year.
Our new teachers are Landon Holland, teaching English 9CP, and Anna Garmatz who is teaching English 9CP and English 10. We are excited to have these talented people join our department!
2025-2026: Quarter 1
To begin the school year, our English 9 and 10 classes have been reading and analyzing short stories and poems; our English 11 classes are working with early American literature; and our senior students are engaging in a variety of lessons, including writing summaries, analyzing poetry, and reading early British and Anglo-Saxon literature.
English 9 College Prep
This year-long class focuses on language, literature, composition, and communication. All content chosen is appropriately complex for freshmen and is a balance of classic and contemporary literature with historical or cultural signifance. They also cover nonfiction work as well. Students will interpret, analyze, compare, and evaluate when they read and respond to this content in both written work and orally presented projects.
Honors English 9
The Honors English 9 course follows the same standards as the curriculum for English 9 College Prep. All chosen content fits similar cultural, historical, classical, and contemporary requirements; however, the content chosen for an Honors-level study is more complex. Students will be expected to interpret, analyze, compare, and evaluate these works at a high level in both their written and presented work.
English 10
This class furthers the study of language, literature, composition, and communication, focusing on literature with an appropriate level of difficulty. Entrance into this class is detemined by assessment data and administrative decision. Along with studying interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation, students will receive targeted remediation. This remediation will help strengthen reading comprehension skills and written communication skills.
English 10 College Prep
This class futhers the study of language literature, composition, and communication, focusing on literature with an appropriate level of difficulty. Students will use literary interpretation, analysis, comparions, and evalution to explore and respond to various works of historical or cultural significance. Content will be balanced between classical and contemporary literature and nonfiction. Students will be expected to produce work at a level typical of sophomore students.
Honors English 10
Students will spend the year futhering their study of language, literature, composition, and communication. However, as an honors class, this is much more reading-intensive. Students will use literary interpretation, analysis, comparions, and evalution to explore and respond to various works of historical or cultural significance. Content will be balanced between classical and contemporary literature and nonfiction while settling at a higher level of complexity. Students will be expected to produce work at a more advanced level through all assessments.
English 11
This year-long course will study language, American Literature, and communication, both written and oral. English 11 provides instruction for students who struggle with reading and writing. The remediation provided in this class is research-based and will utilize many different reading and writing strategies to help students grow in these areas. They will practice researching and citing evidence from various texts, along with continuing their study of the following skills: interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation. The content in this course focuses on literature from Indigenous peoples, the colonists, and other American works up until around the 1980s, and is at an appropriate level of difficulty.
English 11 CP
This year-long course will study language, American Literature, and communication, both written and oral. Students will practice using and citing evidence from various texts, along with continuing their study of the following skills: interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation. They will tackle more extended research-based projects while honing their writing skills. The content in this course focuses on literature from Indigenous peoples, the colonists, and other American works up until around the 1980s, and is at an appropriate level of difficulty.
AP English 11
This Advanced Placement course and its curriculum come from the College Board. Content will focus on developing and revising evidenced-based writing and analysis of American literary and nonfiction texts. This class is similar to an introductory college-level course. Students are required to complete summer reading which is a percentage of their first semester grade. Failure to complete this summer work will negatively impact their grade but will not be accepted as the basis for a schedule change request. Students will also be required to take the AP test in this year or in their senior year after taking AP English 12. There is a fee for this class but financial assistance may be available.
English 12
This class continues to futher the study of language, literature, and communication. The content for this course covers a wide variety of time periods and genres. Students in will need a teacher referral and below-grade level test scores to be considered for this class. Covered topics include remedial work, evaluating online information, citing evidence, and the continued study of interpretation, analyis, comparison, and evaluation.
English 12 College Prep
This class continues to futher the study of language, literature, and communication. The content for this course covers a wide variety of time periods and genres. Students will continue their study of interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation of literature and nonfiction. They will also study the importance of accessing and evaluating online information.
English 12 College Prep – English Literature
This course follows the same standards and covered topics as English 12 College Prep, but students in this section will read content from England and Great Britain.
AP English 12
This Advanced Placement course and its curriculum come from the College Board. Content will focus on developing and revising evidenced-based writing and analysis various texts. Students will also explore the way writers use language for meaning and pleasure. This class is similar to an introductory college-level course. Students are required to complete summer reading which is a percentage of their first semester grade. Failure to complete this summer work will negatively impact their grade but will not be accepted as the basis for a schedule change request. Students will also be required to take the AP test in this year if they did not take it during their junior year. There is a fee for this class but financial assistance may be available.
DC6 W131 L 202 IUSB W131/L202 IU
This full year course is advanced based on the standards for juniors and seniors. Both components of this class are required and can offer Dual Credit through WCHS and Indiana University. In W131, the first section, students will cover diverse topics through articles and write responses to them. The second section, L202, moves from focusing on writing responses to writing pieces on literary analysis. The literature they read will cover fiction, poetry, and drama.
Creative Writing
This one-semester class is a study of writing strategies in prose and poetry. While exploring these styles, students will practice their command of vocabulary and grammar. These writers will also discover their own written voice and style and the impact they can have an on audience.
Journalism
This full-year class covers many aspects of journalism. Students will cover the study of news elements, the history of journalism, law and ethics, different article styles, and the exploration of the software and equipment professionals use in this craft. This class is considered a prerequisite for the Student Media classes.
Speech
This speech class is one-semester and covers the study and real-world application of oral communication. Students will research and give speeches that present clear messages with attention to gestures, tone, and appropriate vocabulary. They will explore different types of presentations from instructional to persuasive and many in between.
Student Media Yearbook, Student Media Newspaper
These Student Media classes are responsible for creating the annual yearbook and putting out at least six issues of The Roar, the student newspaper. These student staff members will follow the appropriate legal and ethical rules of journalism, will life up their fellow students through coverage of school events, and will express themselves publicly with meaning and clarity.
This class is meant to be a real-world exploration of communications, marketing, writing, and time management. Students must take into account the after school time-commitment necessary to cover school events. Students must take Journalism or have an English teacher provide a recommendation for entrance into this course.
-
English 9 College Prep
This year-long class focuses on language, literature, composition, and communication. All content chosen is appropriately complex for freshmen and is a balance of classic and contemporary literature with historical or cultural signifance. They also cover nonfiction work as well. Students will interpret, analyze, compare, and evaluate when they read and respond to this content in both written work and orally presented projects.
Honors English 9
The Honors English 9 course follows the same standards as the curriculum for English 9 College Prep. All chosen content fits similar cultural, historical, classical, and contemporary requirements; however, the content chosen for an Honors-level study is more complex. Students will be expected to interpret, analyze, compare, and evaluate these works at a high level in both their written and presented work.
-
English 10
This class furthers the study of language, literature, composition, and communication, focusing on literature with an appropriate level of difficulty. Entrance into this class is detemined by assessment data and administrative decision. Along with studying interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation, students will receive targeted remediation. This remediation will help strengthen reading comprehension skills and written communication skills.
English 10 College Prep
This class futhers the study of language literature, composition, and communication, focusing on literature with an appropriate level of difficulty. Students will use literary interpretation, analysis, comparions, and evalution to explore and respond to various works of historical or cultural significance. Content will be balanced between classical and contemporary literature and nonfiction. Students will be expected to produce work at a level typical of sophomore students.
Honors English 10
Students will spend the year futhering their study of language, literature, composition, and communication. However, as an honors class, this is much more reading-intensive. Students will use literary interpretation, analysis, comparions, and evalution to explore and respond to various works of historical or cultural significance. Content will be balanced between classical and contemporary literature and nonfiction while settling at a higher level of complexity. Students will be expected to produce work at a more advanced level through all assessments.
-
English 11
This year-long course will study language, American Literature, and communication, both written and oral. English 11 provides instruction for students who struggle with reading and writing. The remediation provided in this class is research-based and will utilize many different reading and writing strategies to help students grow in these areas. They will practice researching and citing evidence from various texts, along with continuing their study of the following skills: interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation. The content in this course focuses on literature from Indigenous peoples, the colonists, and other American works up until around the 1980s, and is at an appropriate level of difficulty.
English 11 CP
This year-long course will study language, American Literature, and communication, both written and oral. Students will practice using and citing evidence from various texts, along with continuing their study of the following skills: interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation. They will tackle more extended research-based projects while honing their writing skills. The content in this course focuses on literature from Indigenous peoples, the colonists, and other American works up until around the 1980s, and is at an appropriate level of difficulty.
AP English 11
This Advanced Placement course and its curriculum come from the College Board. Content will focus on developing and revising evidenced-based writing and analysis of American literary and nonfiction texts. This class is similar to an introductory college-level course. Students are required to complete summer reading which is a percentage of their first semester grade. Failure to complete this summer work will negatively impact their grade but will not be accepted as the basis for a schedule change request. Students will also be required to take the AP test in this year or in their senior year after taking AP English 12. There is a fee for this class but financial assistance may be available.
-
English 12
This class continues to futher the study of language, literature, and communication. The content for this course covers a wide variety of time periods and genres. Students in will need a teacher referral and below-grade level test scores to be considered for this class. Covered topics include remedial work, evaluating online information, citing evidence, and the continued study of interpretation, analyis, comparison, and evaluation.
English 12 College Prep
This class continues to futher the study of language, literature, and communication. The content for this course covers a wide variety of time periods and genres. Students will continue their study of interpretation, analysis, comparison, and evaluation of literature and nonfiction. They will also study the importance of accessing and evaluating online information.
English 12 College Prep – English Literature
This course follows the same standards and covered topics as English 12 College Prep, but students in this section will read content from England and Great Britain.
AP English 12
This Advanced Placement course and its curriculum come from the College Board. Content will focus on developing and revising evidenced-based writing and analysis various texts. Students will also explore the way writers use language for meaning and pleasure. This class is similar to an introductory college-level course. Students are required to complete summer reading which is a percentage of their first semester grade. Failure to complete this summer work will negatively impact their grade but will not be accepted as the basis for a schedule change request. Students will also be required to take the AP test in this year if they did not take it during their junior year. There is a fee for this class but financial assistance may be available.
DC6 W131 L 202 IUSB W131/L202 IU
This full year course is advanced based on the standards for juniors and seniors. Both components of this class are required and can offer Dual Credit through WCHS and Indiana University. In W131, the first section, students will cover diverse topics through articles and write responses to them. The second section, L202, moves from focusing on writing responses to writing pieces on literary analysis. The literature they read will cover fiction, poetry, and drama.
-
Creative Writing
This one-semester class is a study of writing strategies in prose and poetry. While exploring these styles, students will practice their command of vocabulary and grammar. These writers will also discover their own written voice and style and the impact they can have an on audience.
Journalism
This full-year class covers many aspects of journalism. Students will cover the study of news elements, the history of journalism, law and ethics, different article styles, and the exploration of the software and equipment professionals use in this craft. This class is considered a prerequisite for the Student Media classes.
Speech
This speech class is one-semester and covers the study and real-world application of oral communication. Students will research and give speeches that present clear messages with attention to gestures, tone, and appropriate vocabulary. They will explore different types of presentations from instructional to persuasive and many in between.
Student Media Yearbook, Student Media Newspaper
These Student Media classes are responsible for creating the annual yearbook and putting out at least six issues of The Roar, the student newspaper. These student staff members will follow the appropriate legal and ethical rules of journalism, will life up their fellow students through coverage of school events, and will express themselves publicly with meaning and clarity.
This class is meant to be a real-world exploration of communications, marketing, writing, and time management. Students must take into account the after school time-commitment necessary to cover school events. Students must take Journalism or have an English teacher provide a recommendation for entrance into this course.
Contact Us!
Department Leader Jen Hicks English 9, English 9 Honors, English 12 Dual Credit jhicks@warsawschools.org
|
Department Administrator Tim Devlin tdevlin@warsawschools.org
|
Brad Anderson English 12 AP, English 12 CP, Speech banderson@warsawschools.org
|
Michael Curtis English 11 and English 11 CP mcurtis@warsawschools.org
|
Katie Davis English 10 CP and English 12 CP kdavis@warsawschools.org
|
Anna Garmatz English 9 CP and English 10 agarmatz@warsawschools.org
|
Kevin Hawley English 10 CP and English 9 CP khawley@warsawschools.org
|
Steve Henn English 11 AP, English 12 CP, and Creative Writing shenn@warsawschools.org
|
Kylie Higgins English 9 Honors and English 10 khiggins@warsawschools.org
|
Landon Holland English 9 CP lholland@warsawschools.org
|
Erin Leinbach English 10 CP, Journalism, Newspaper, Yearbook eleinbach@warsawschools.org
|
Reagan Motsinger English 9 CP and English 11 CP rmotsinger@warsawschools.org
|
Ashley Sparks English 11, English 11 CP, English 12 CP- Brit Lit asparks@warsawschools.org
|
Tom Starkweather English 10 CP and English 10 Honors tstarkweather@warsawschools.org
|
Jeremiah Wade English 12 and APEX Lab jwade@warsawschools.org
|
Amber Williams English 9 CP and English 12 CP awilliams@warsawschools.org
|