Recently, several honors and AP English students have experienced a staffing change in their classes. This was necessary because about a month into the school year, English teacher Meghan Keane began an extended absence.

Latin teacher Don Swanbeck, with the help of English teacher Tina Daponde and English Department Chair David Pelczarski, was offered the opportunity to teach two Honors 10 classes and one AP 11 class.

For the time being, Swanbeck  is continuing the usual AP curriculum and working on progressing through the Honors material. The AP curriculum has been laid out for him, and the honors material is similar to the college prep section.

Swanbeck said that Daponde and Pelczarski have been very helpful in getting him up to speed with the curriculum.

Swanbeck said he is enjoying teaching the classes so far. “I’ve been reading the Crucible with the 11th graders and been doing some banned books work with the sophomores,” he said. “All of which is very interesting to me [as] I love literature.”

Librarian Becky Mazur assisted Swanbeck with the 10th grade banned books work. Mazur mentioned having a lot of experience in writing, and said she was happy to share her knowledge with students. She and English teacher Kristin Hamilton have been teaching Writing Workshop classes.

“I think the students are responding to the stability that having a teacher consistently in there verses a sub gives,” Daponde said. She added that it is positive thing for the students to be able to rely on a certified teacher running the classes.

Students are more effective while working when they have a permanent teacher, Daponde noted. The work in the affected English classes is no longer busy work given by substitute teachers; it is now a planned curriculum.

Shea may be reached at [email protected] and Ziomek may be reached at [email protected]